


Finding Something Better Than Gold

by Silverwolf666



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Animal Transformation, BAMF Bilbo, Bilbo Is Awesome but He Has Issues, Loyal Kili, Loyal Younger Dwarves, M/M, Some angst, Thorin Is an Idiot, Wizard Bilbo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-09-20
Updated: 2015-06-19
Packaged: 2017-12-27 04:13:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 64,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/974192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silverwolf666/pseuds/Silverwolf666
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bilbo doesn't belong in the Shire, Gandalf knows this very well, with Bilbo having 'dangerous' shifts as well as some magical talent. But, he's hoping that being in the company of thirteen odd dwarves will help Bilbo find some form of acceptance and, if Bilbo's really lucky, family and love. Is Gandalf right? Or is it Bilbo that doesn't belong anywhere? I totally suck at these :(</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Bilbo is Half of Nothing

Chapter 1

Bilbo could tell as soon as he saw Gandalf that his day had just gone down the plumbing; Bilbo was already greatly despised in the Shire for what he could do and what he had done, he didn't need Gandalf to make things worse. It wasn't just the Took blood in him, though many said that was a large blame factor, it was the end result of what he had become. You see, there were two things wrong with Bilbo; like other Hobbits, he had three shift forms, a land shift, a flight shift, and, as the Hobbits referred to them, a 'sneaking' shift, but they were dangerous forms that no one wanted anything to do with. The other thing wrong, was, unlike other Hobbits, he was a little wizard that had a particular knack for spells that involved nature. Between his magic and the fact that his shifts were dangerous, the only Hobbits that actually interacted with Bilbo and kept him from being a complete hermit were his cousin Drogo, his wife Primula, his gardener Hamfast, and his wife Bell. The others, particularly Lobelia and that annoying husband of hers, all constantly remarked on the fact that between his three shifts, he could easily kill everyone in the Shire. They believed him wholly capable of this because, after he saw his mother and father killed by Orcs, he had become so filled with hatred at those he perceived as part of the reason he had become an orphan so young, that darkness had touched two of his three shifts.

They would often say that he was unfit to be around other Hobbits because of all that he had become; after he saw his parents murdered, his heart filled with hatred not only for Orcs, but also for the Men and Elves who had come too late to save at least his mother, who had managed to kill an Orc and a Warg in her badger shift before an Orc's mace had taken her life. After that, Bilbo had transformed from a care free Hobbit to someone that others feared and stayed far away from. It was during that attack that Bilbo's magic had awakened as well, and some blamed that for his animal transformation problems. He had almost been consumed by the evil and hatred in his heart, but Gandalf had found him and taken him to Lord Elrond, where, with the help of King Thranduil and other elves, they were able to save him, though his land shift was forevermore altered. After he had recovered, Thranduil and Elrond had both agreed that the best way for him to control his anger was to teach him how to spar and they quickly realized that he had a penchant for more long distanced weaponry. He was a very good archer, and he was also good at weapons not many used such as the chakram and the spear. While he was also very good at laying traps, if he was forced into melee weaponry, he was good with both a claymore and a katar. He also used a heavy duty shield called a targe, though his had been modified so that the five inch long spike was hidden until he decided to release it.

"Gandalf, for whatever reason you're here, I sincerely hope you are prepared for rejection."

"Mr. Baggins, I assure you that I am here to simply inquire as to the welfare of an old friend who also happens to be the son of one of my dearest friends."

"Gandalf, I truly could care less, but as you are not going to leave me alone until I find out why you are here so please?"

"Very well, I am looking for someone to share in an adventure." Gandalf could see that Bilbo was interested, but he refrained from expressing it.

"I take it then that I am to completely ignore Lord Elrond's warnings?"

"My dear Bilbo, I for one have perfect faith in your control. Also, your forms would be perfect for the job I have in mind for you."

"One, who would I be working with, and two, what are you talking about?"

"You recall hearing about the dragon Smaug invading Erebor?"

"You expect me to fight a dragon and work with dwarves?! While I personally have nothing against them, their stubborn pride is annoying and irritating, and I personally don't feel like being fried just so some can claim mountains of gold and a fancy looking rock."

"I would never even think to ask that of you my old friend, but if I could argue my case to you?"

"I'd be willing to listen over dinner, just how many should I expect?"

"Why, I would only think to impose myself and one other on your gracious hospitality. Now, I must depart to inform the others that you are willing to hear us out; you won't regret this Bilbo, I promise you!" Gandalf said before he turned and walked away. Bilbo went inside, to think of what to feed an unknown number of dwarves and one wizard.

Later that Night

"He looks more like a grocer than a burglar." The newest and final addition, Thorin Oakenshield, said as he looked right at Bilbo, and Bilbo had to fight not to shift and tear out this impudent dwarf's throat as he listened to some of the others chuckle at their leader degrade their host.

"And you act more like a bigoted idiot that could end up in a very dangerous situation for judging people for their first impressions rather than a descendent of the Durin line and heir to the noble throne of Erebor." Bilbo said and he could tell that many were gob smacked he had just out and out said something like that to their leader.

"Watch your tone Halfling." Thorin growled, but Bilbo's own shift lent him some courage to stand up to this mutt.

"And you watch your manners, Dwarf; I am not half of anything, and I will not be talked down to by anyone, especially in my own home. I have allowed your men to come into my house, rest, eat my food, drink my ale, all without a certain annoying Wizard telling me to expect him and thirteen dwarves. Also, for your information, I happen to prefer long range weapons such as the bow and arrow, but that is not to say that I can't fight close range, for that, I use the claymore and katar." Bilbo and Thorin were glaring at each other, and Dwalin worried if he would have to pull the two off of each other.

"Bilbo, please, if we could go into the dining room and I'll explain why we're here."

"There's no need; Master Thorin, you'll find food in the kitchen, I believe I know what is expected of me, if I could have a few moments to think on it?" Bilbo asked and Thorin stiffly nodded, however, both refused to back down. Thorin had a feeling he and the Hobbit were going to clash often, making him believe that their dominant shifts were natural enemies. Fili and Kili both quickly came up and got the two to look away at the same time, knowing that was the only way to get the two separated, Fili took Thorin to the kitchen and Kili took Bilbo off to the side.

"Charming fellow, your uncle, isn't he?" Bilbo asked Kili.

"Yes well, please understand, he is under a lot of pressure and life hasn't exactly been fair to him since Erebor was lost. Not to mention, he has trouble trusting people since King Thranduil left our people to suffer."

"I can understand that, I'm not a big fan of Men and most Elves myself, but since I have no reason to hate your people, I would like to think that, though there were times when I wanted to strangle some of you for your manners, I was fairly courteous." Bilbo said with a sigh.

"Except when Ori tried to put out your prize tomatoes and Oin tried to use your grandpa Mungo's chair, you were very courteous." Kili said with that smile of his. Bilbo then led him to a locked room.

"I keep my weapons in here; not many Hobbitlings come here, but my cousin likes to bring his son around sometimes, and the last thing I need is for the child of one of the very few Hobbits who can stand me to lose some fingers or toes." Bilbo said as he unlocked the door and showed Kili inside.

"Does this mean that you'll be coming with us?" Kili asked as he stepped inside.

"I think so, there's not much holding me here to the Shire." Bilbo said as he looked for his weapons, finding his quiver and bow first.

"What's this?" Kili asked, holding up a thin ring of sharpened metal.

"That is part of a set of three and is called a chakram; basically, you throw it at your opponent and, if you're lucky, it will be embedded in your opponent's skull but if you're really lucky, it will completely take the head off."

"And here Fili and I were expecting a peace loving Hobbit that couldn't tell a claymore from a broadsword." Kili said with a chuckle as he gently put the chakram down.

"Please understand Master Kili, I do not thirst for battle, I just needed an outlet after my parents death and learning weaponry was the safest one. Though it is one of the reasons why the other Hobbits don't like me very much; a Hobbit is only supposed to love good food, the love of his family, and things that grow and come from the earth. For myself however, well, I don't really eat as much as other Hobbits, they eat seven while I only ever eat three, sometimes two, I don't really have any close family, all I have is my garden." Bilbo said as he picked up his three chakram and claymore.

"Is there anything else needed from this room?" Kili asked, trying to draw the nice Hobbit away from such distressing thoughts.

"Yes, I need my spear and my shield; I would never think of leaving the Shire without my shield." Kili looked around, and soon found said items and carefully handed the spear to Bilbo as it was two pronged, and could almost be mistaken for a pitch fork. He curiously handed the round shield to Bilbo as well.

"Please don't think me rude, but I would think someone like you would prefer a full bodied shield."

"Yes well, the problem with that is that if it's full bodied, then when I have it on my back, it's either dragging on the ground, or constantly knocking the backs of my knees. And this is one shield that I would definitely carry on my back when I'm not using it."

"Why?" Kili then jumped back as all of a sudden, a five inch long, razor sharp blade protruded from the shield.

"That's why; if anyone is going to try and sneak up on me, they're going to get this through their stomachs, though for the tall folk, it would probably go through their knee cap, which would still hurt like hell." Bilbo said with a wicked smirk that Kili copied.

"I'm glad you're not my enemy." Kili said as Bilbo picked up his katar and they left the room.

"Never assume, now, I have a cloak around here somewhere, along with a decent bedroll and pack."

"Mister Boggins, what's a katar? I've never even heard of it, let alone seen one." Kili asked and Bilbo showed him his punching dagger.

"First, my name is Baggins, with an A; secondly, it's a dagger that you can put all of your weight behind when you drive it into your opponent. Furthermore, if you open it while it's inside your opponent, their insides will become their outsides."

"Open it?" Kili asked with an uneasy expression. He then jumped as Bilbo pushed a button and the dagger opened into three separate parts.

"You best be careful or you'll lose some fingers; the katar is one of those weapons that should be used by experts, not people looking for a hobby." Thorin said and Kili silently wished that he and Fili could have kept them separated a little longer; say till the end of the quest?

"For your information, I have been using a katar for thirty years and I am quite good at it."

"Please don't tell me that the two of you are gearing up for another argument; you have probably talked to each other for a grand total of maybe fifteen minutes and you seem to keep looking for reasons to tear each other's throats out!" Gandalf said as he came in. Unfortunately, he knocked his head against the chandelier again.

"I swear, one day I will melt that blasted thing down and turn it into an ornament for my staff." Gandalf mumbled before Thorin thrust a piece of paper at Bilbo.

"If you think you have what it takes to make yourself useful on this quest, sign on the bottom." Bilbo took a good long look at the contract, and then signed on the bottom.

"Making sure you could live up to it?" Thorin asked with a smirk.

"Just making sure that there's no clause saying you can kill me when I offer an opinion that differs with your own." Bilbo answered with a smirk of his own.

"Ah, Mr. Baggins, is there anything else I can help you find?" Kili asked, trying to keep his uncle and his nice host from fighting physically as well as verbally.

"You need not concern yourself with helping him find his gear." Thorin said with a sneer.

"Listen here mutt, if your nephew wants to be polite to someone of another race, you should encourage that instead of discouraging it. The one who knows how to properly talk to another is the one less likely to start a war."

"And what would someone like you know about war?" Thorin asked, sneer seeming more prominent than before. Before Bilbo could retort however, Gandalf came and pushed him towards Kili, who was all too happy to intervene.

"Master Kili, kindly take Mr. Baggins to the main guest room, the one at the end of the hall, to the right. In that room's closet, you'll find his cloak, as well as his pack and gear; kindly make sure that he has everything necessary." Kili and Bilbo turned to leave, but they both managed to hear

"Thorin, I don't know why you are directing such hostility towards Mr. Baggins, but let me assure you he is not one who will take much more lying down, so unless you would like to face something dangerous, I suggest you stop pushing!" Kili did not know how long he could keep his laughter in at hearing his uncle being scolded, so he quickly nudged Bilbo down the hall. As Bilbo and Kili came to the door across from his own, Bilbo paused and turned to Kili.

"Master Kili, I must ask that you take care in this room; the few earthly possessions of my mother and father that are not an armchair or some pottery are in this room, and I would rather not have to skin you for breaking something." Kili did not so much as touch anything or breathe too hard, as he firmly believed the warrior Hobbit would keep to his threat. He was lead to a closet, and in it was indeed Bilbo's cloak which, at a quick glance, looked severely patched up and one that most would say was a lost clause. However, when Kili saw that the lining of the cloak was a dark grey color, with no sign of patch work, he took a closer look and saw that what he had earlier dismissed as patchwork was in actuality, camouflage that looked like foliage. Bilbo then passed a pack that had a bedroll attached to it, as well as a smaller pack.

"What's the smaller pack for?" Kili asked as he folded Bilbo's cloak for him and they moved to Bilbo's own room to begin packing.

"Well, it's a medical pack; it's got bandages, ointments, stuff for stitches, as well as some plants that are vary with potency depending on whether they are crushed into an ointment or boiled into a liquid mixture."

"Oin has all that and more in his pack." Kili said as he tried to find warm clothing for the Hobbit, but there wasn't a whole lot.

"Yes, I'm afraid that the Shire is not known for bad winters, though I keep some warmer clothes in my closet for winter. But, back to Oin's remedies, what is good for a dwarf is not always good for a Hobbit, and vice versa. Anyways, on a journey all the way from here to Erebor, it's not a bad idea to have additional medical supplies." Bilbo said as he went into the closet and pulled out his two warmest sets of clothes. However, as he did this, something that had been lodged in between two boxes on the top shelf fell out, right on Bilbo's head.

"Ow!"

"What was it?" Kili asked as Bilbo knelt down and picked up an old pocket knife that he had not seen in thirty-five years.

"It's my fathers pocket knife; I thought it was lost when he died."

"If you don't mind me asking, how-"

"I was twelve years old, which is very young for a Hobbit, and they were killed by Orcs. I would greatly appreciate it if we could leave it at that." Bilbo said as he slipped the pocket knife into a side pocket on the pack. Kili knew that Bilbo's thought were getting dark again so, though he had no real reason to care so much about the mental well-being of someone he had only known for a few hours, he quickly grabbed onto a topic that he hoped was not another tender one.

"So, Gandalf tells us that Hobbits have three shifts, dwarves only have two, a main one and a secondary one. My dominant shift is a cheetah, while my secondary is an otter."

"So, you're both fast, and you like to have fun; I better keep an eye on you, mischief maker." Bilbo said with a smirk while Kili made a wounded expression.

"Mr. Baggins, I assure you, I'm as innocent as a newborn babe."

"Baby skunk maybe." Bilbo grumbled as he went over everything to make sure he didn't forget anything, feeling like he forgot something.

"Nonetheless, what are your shifts?" Kili was surprised when Bilbo seemed to trip on thin air.

"Here in the Shire, it is considered highly rude to discuss your shifts with any who is not your spouse, or at the very least, your sibling." Bilbo said as he straightened.

"But I thought that as far as Hobbits went, you were an anomaly?" Kili asked, wondering what the big deal was.

"Kili, I don't like talking about this, and while I can tell you love to cause mischief, my instincts tell me that you know when to be serious and that you're a good man in a storm. So, I feel like I can explain to you that, when my parents were killed by the Orcs, a sort of darkness touched my heart, and it affected two out of my three forms; while my 'sneaking' shift, as we Hobbits call it, was unaffected, but my air shift was touched and my land shift was permanently altered. All you or anyone needs to know is that my shifts are all dangerous killers and, if we're lucky, none of you will ever need to see it." Kili felt like kicking himself; he had tried to think of something that would put the Hobbit (Best start thinking of him as Bilbo if he's going to be coming with us Kili thought) in lighter spirits, and instead he was even gloomier than ever!

"Err, how about I tell you everyone else's shifts, which should put you at ease because, no offense, but once you hear about all the 'dangerous' shifts we already have in the company, you'll feel more at ease!" Kili suggested with an uneasy smile, which didn't convince Bilbo for a second, but he figured it couldn't hurt.

"Right, well, you know mine, and while Fili can also turn into an otter, his dominant shift is a lion; Ori's dominant shift is a pika, with his secondary form being a hare; Nori's main shift is a grey fox, with his secondary being a bobcat; Dori's dominant shift is a big horn sheep, with his secondary being a caracal cat; Bifur's dominant shift is an elk with his secondary shift being a jaguarundi; Bombur's dominant shift is a hippopotamus and his secondary is a moose; Bofur's dominant shift is a red fox, while his secondary shift is that of a spotted hyena; Oin and Gloin are rare in that they share a dominant shift of an ibex, and they share a secondary as Oliphants (a/n: elephants are very family oriented animals and I thought, with how much Gloin loves his family, and how close the two of them are, it was an appropriate match); Balin's dominant is a mountain goat with his secondary being a snapping turtle (rumor has it that he once bit Thorin's finger when he had fallen asleep during a tutoring session); Dwalin is a heavily scarred bear with his secondary being a gorilla; Thorin's dominant is a huge black wolf with ice blue eyes, and his secondary is a fierce badger." Kili's smile fell of completely as, while Bilbo looked impressed, it was the look one gave when someone thought it amusing when another told them that their pets were vicious, when they themselves had a far more dangerous one.

"Kili, I take no real pride in any of my forms, so please don't think I'm bragging when I say that between my three shifts, I could rip all of you apart with very few problems."

A/N: Right, so that's my first chapter of a story that I really should not be starting, not with my computer not wanting to so much as turn on and I have to rely on my sister's and her boyfriends computers and laptops. But the plot bunnies just would not leave me alone! So, would anyone like to hazard a guess as to what Bilbo's three shifts are? Also, would you all prefer it if the slash was just between Bilbo and Thorin? Or should I attempt the oh-so-rare foursome of Thorin/Fili/Kili/Bilbo? Also, concerning Smaug, would you prefer it if he died like in the book, with Bard and his black arrow? Or would you prefer he die at the hands at one of the dwarves, say Thorin or Dwalin? Or maybe, Bilbo launches a spell that temporarily displaces Smaug from Erebor, only for him to come back and help in the Battle of the Five Armies because he finds the little green wizard/thief much more interesting than mountains of shiny coins and baubles? Also, should Frodo come to live with Bilbo at Erebor? What should his shifts be?

You'll all find out Bilbo's shifts around the time the company reach Rivendell, as Elrond will most certainly not be a happy Elf lord when he see's that a certain grey wizard has convinced someone they spent so much energy to save to leave the calm peaceful borders of the Shire and enter a world filled with the very creatures that killed his parents. Anyways, review and tell me what you think of it! It's my first Hobbit fic so if we could please keep the flaming to a minimum? By the way, sorry about any weird spacing in some paragraphs; that just happened and no matter what I did, it still did the same thing. Ta for now, darlings, I'll update whenever I can!


	2. Leaving the Shire

Chapter 2

Bilbo was not happy the next day when he found out that the way that they were travelling was by pony. The pony moved around so much, Bilbo thought he was either going to bolt or throw Bilbo right off the ponies back.

"I don't think I've ever seen someone so bad on a pony before." Thorin said to Dwalin, who chuckled, which Bilbo could hear quite well, even though he was near the end of their line.

"Could the pony fear your shift? Our mom's dominant shift is a mountain lion and she often has trouble with new ponies." Kili asked, for once not finding it funny that someone was worse off than him at something. Kili had no trouble admitting that he had felt a bit of pride that Bilbo's instincts said Kili was someone who could be trusted enough to help him explain why he wouldn't be shifting in front of the company, and he wanted to make sure that he did nothing to lose Bilbo's trust; one of the few people who trusted Kili with something bigger than looking after ponies. Bilbo only nodded before he put his hand on the pony's neck, sending a calming spell down his arm to the horse's nerves.

"What 'vicious' animal could a Hobbit be that would unnerve these ponies?" Thorin asked Dwalin, who shrugged and suggested

"Perhaps a rabid muskrat?" Gandalf, who could already feel another headache forming, intervened before Bilbo could do anything that they would all regret.

"For your information, Dwalin, son of Fundin, and Thorin, son of Thrain, muskrats often kill each other while fighting over mates and territories. Not to mention Bilbo's great-great-great-great uncle Bullroarer Took had the land shift of a large warthog, the sneaking shift of a wolverine, and a flying shift of a swan."

"What's so dangerous about swans? I've always thought of them as very beautiful birds." Ori asked and Bilbo reigned in his irritation at Thorin and Dwalin, before he answered the inquisitive, polite, if shy, young dwarf.

"Swans may be beautiful birds Ori, but like all parents get when their young are in danger, they can have rotten tempers. I know this from experience because my mother's flight form was that of a swan and if she thought you were threatening me, she would chase you until you either reached your home or you were out of the Shire, whichever came first. They are not only relatively gentle creatures in nature, but they are also terrific parents and would protect their young to the bitter end. And here lies the problem. Many birds have an instinct to protect their young when approached by a predator, but they will eventually give up if the predator is too strong or dangerous to deter. The swan however, does not give up. Not only do they attack by flying at perceived threats at full speed and biting them, they'll also try to drown you if given the chance: they are known to fly up over and try to keep something underwater if they perceive it as threat. Furthermore, their beaks have the power to rip flesh from your bones." Ori had a shocked look on his face, as did Fili and Kili, and all three made mental notes never to let a swan catch them.

"Master Baggins, Kili told me that he told you all of our shifts to put you at ease with telling us your shifts. He also informed me that you told him your shifts could quite easily kill ours, how would they fair against your uncles?" Fili asked as he directed his pony near Bilbo's.

"First, I said my shifts could tear yours apart with few problems, not no problems whatsoever; an Oliphant would certainly present some problems, but mine could take one down. Second, I would say that the shift of my great-great-great-great uncle that would give me some trouble is the wolverine; armed with powerful jaws, sharp claws and a thick hide, the wolverine has a reputation for ferocity and strength out of proportion to its size, with the documented ability to kill prey many times its size, though if ours ever met we could certainly make some fur fly."

"Gandalf, just what have you brought into this company?" Thorin asked as Gandalf came into view.

"Thorin, while Bilbo's shifts are neither the friendliest nor most social of animals, I was not aware that those were pre-requisites for being a part of this company, considering badgers, bears, and cheetahs are not known for their friendliness and sociability."

"So, Master Baggins, can we have a hint as to your shifts?" Fili asked, as his curiosity about what the shifts of a warrior Hobbit could be that they could take down an Oliphant was very over whelming.

"Fili, whenever someone has discovered any one of my shifts, that discovery has been accompanied with fear, distrust, and disgust. However, I have the distinct feeling that, unless you are given the opportunity to figure out any of my shifts, I will not have a moment's peace. So, I will allow you to ask three questions about one of my shifts, from there, it will be up to you to determine what the animal is. However, if you receive help from any MEDDLING WIZARDS, then I will not even ever contemplate revealing the other two shifts to you." Bilbo offered/threatened and the three dwarflings all nodded. They then thought about which shift they wanted to guess.

"I don't know about the two of you, but my knowledge of birds is sadly quite lacking." Kili said and the other two nodded; all they knew about birds was that there were hundreds of different kinds of them, ranging from very small, to very big, and just because Bilbo had said his shifts were unwelcome in the Shire, did not mean that he was a bird of prey, there were plenty of birds that could not be welcome in the Shire for all they knew. So no, trying to guess the flying shift would be pointless and a big waste of time.

"Maybe we should try and figure out his land shift; something that could kill an Oliphant? Shouldn't be that hard to figure out." Fili suggested, but Ori shook his head in the negative,

"He didn't say how he could kill, just that he could; for all we know, he could be something that died out for unknown reasons but could spit poison strong enough to kill an Oliphant!" Bilbo looked on in bemusement, as they tried to figure out which shift to guess.

"Well, why don't we try and figure out what his sneaking shift is?" Kili suggested and the other two tried to think up questions to figure out what Bilbo's sneaking shift was.

"Ok, first question; are you a herbivore or an insectivore?" Kili asked and Bilbo had to fight the urge to roll his eyes at the limited question range he was subjected to.

"I eat insects, but I like to mix it up now and then." Fili, Kili and Ori were all rather surprised at this revelation.

"Ok, are you smaller than a pika?" Ori asked and the other two rolled their eyes at the question; of course he had to be-

"I'm actually bigger than a pika." He was an insectivore, bigger than a pika, and still an animal that can sneak about?

"Final question, I guess; are you a mammal or a reptile?" Bilbo didn't bother to face-palm this time.

"For the record, that should have been your first question in order to reduce the possibilities of what I could be; there are hundreds of different species of animals that are bigger than pikas and still eat insects. There are plenty of animals that eat insects, that does not mean that that is all they eat, nor does it single them out as insectivores. The only one who asked his question at the right time is Ori; an idea of size can help determine it, however, I could tell by the looks on your face you were surprised I was bigger than a pika. For the record, there are plenty of animals that are much bigger than a pika and can still be stealthy; how do you think large felines and canines sneak up on their prey? True, most canines hunt in packs, but the only feline that hunts in a group is female lions, others hunt on their own. Now, to answer your final question, I am a mammal." Bilbo could tell the three dwarflings were all wishing they had taken more time to think over their questions.

"Don't have much patience for young ones do ya?" Bofur asked as he rode next to Bilbo.

"Oh, I have plenty of patience; case in point, I have yet to punch the lights out of our valiant leader." Bofur chuckled at that, not understanding why Thorin was being so rude to their burglar.

"However, if they want to know any one of my shifts, you would think they could come up with better questions than those that wouldn't even narrow down to the species, let alone the animal itself!" Bofur nodded, admitting that Bilbo had a valid point with his complaint. Bofur then got an idea for his own questions.

"Would ya mind if I asked ya two simple questions, not about your shifts, but about shifts from the Shire in general?" Bilbo thought for a moment then figured there was no harm in him asking.

"Well, some dwarf families share animal shifts, or at least same family. For example, Fili and Kili share an otter shift, and they share a family type animal with their mother as felines. Is it the same with Hobbits?"

"That can be seen with Hobbits, yes."

"Second question, I heard Gandalf say you were part Took and part Baggins, can you tell me what the common sneak forms of those families are?" Bilbo couldn't help but smirk; this one knew the right questions to ask.

"The Baggins clan usually consists of rabbits, hares and the occasional field mouse. Meanwhile, the Took clan usually has hares, shrews, and some have even had foxes in them, those that are quite a bit rarer." Bilbo explained with a smirk before he continued

"You are much better at this sort of thing than the dwarflings."

"So, are you any one of those five shifts your sneaking shift?" Ori asked and Bilbo just smirked again before shaking his head in the negative.

"Those were much better questions, but I'm afraid that they only help you determine what I'm not, not what I am."

"Well, that's one way to figure out what you are, to figure out what you're not." Bofur said with a grin that Bilbo couldn't help but copy. Gandalf was surprised when he happened to glance back and saw Bilbo, well not outright smiling, but still grinning; Bilbo had not smiled, or truly laughed since his parents had died. However, spirits soon lowered as the rain started. As everyone pulled up the hoods on their cloaks, Gandalf heard Bofur say to Bilbo

"Here now, that's a neat trick; with your hood up like that, it looks like nobody is riding the pony."

"That's kind of the idea behind it; when I wear it like this, I blend into foliage, when I wear it the other way, I blend into stone."

"That's a very inventive idea; may I inquire where you acquired it?" Bombur asked as he rode up next to his brother.

"I got the material from Bree, but for the actual design and everything, I did it myself; got some plain brown fabric, some light grey similar in color to stone and somewhat similar to snow, and some varying shades of green and red. From there, I sewed the green and red onto the brown, and then sewed the brown onto the grey."

"I see the green, but where's the red?" Nori asked as he rode next to his brother.

"If I should be travelling in autumn, I just remove the stitching at the edge, flip it, and then re-sew it. So you see, I have a cloak for all seasons." Bilbo said with a smirk. The others were quite impressed with his initiative and imagination.

"Here, Mr. Gandalf, can't you do something about this deluge?" Bilbo and his small group heard Dori, who was in the middle of their line, call up to Gandalf.

"It is raining Master Dwarf, and it will continue to rain until the rain is done. If you wish to change the weather of the world you should get yourself another wizard." Gandalf said in mild exasperation.

"Are there any?" Ori asked.

"What?"

"Other wizards." Ori elaborated and Bilbo hoped nobody noticed him stiffen slightly at the elaboration.

"There are six of us." Gandalf said and Bilbo was really hoping Gandalf didn't mention him or Gandalf just might be hit by a stray bolt of lightning.

"Really?" Kili asked.

"Yes, the greatest of our order is Saruman, the White; then there are the two Blue wizards, you know I've quite forgotten their names? Then there is Radagast the Brown, who prefers the company of animals to the company of people, and then there is a Green wizard, who has a knack for dealing with nature, though I doubt he would be willing to help; I've heard he rather likes it when it rains."

"What's his name?" Fili asked and Bilbo kept praying that Gandalf forgot his name like he forgot the Blue wizards' names.

"I'm afraid I never really learned his name, Radagast more or less trained him and then sent him on his way before I could officially meet him." Gandalf said, and Bilbo let out a quiet sigh of relief. Later that night, after Bilbo decided to ask the rain to stop so they wouldn't be sleeping in complete mud, Bilbo was just putting away everyone's dishes, including his own when he realized that he had indeed forgotten something.

"Oh bother."

"What's the matter?" Bofur asked as he and Gloin set down more firewood.

"Oh, nothing really, I just forgot my scarf is all. I guess I'll have to make a new one." Bilbo replied as he pulled out his knitting needles and some blue and grey wool.

"Are you sure you want to use some of your wool on something as trivial as a scarf?" Gloin asked as he sat next to the fire.

"Trivial to you, handy to me." Bilbo said as he started knitting.

"Probably afraid to catch a cold." Thorin said to Dwalin who responded with a chuckle.

"Actually I'm afraid to be without a deceptively innocent weapon; Bofur, would you mind if I used your scarf to demonstrate?" Bofur shook his head as he took his scarf off and passed it to their burglar.

"Thank you, now, with a simple tug and flick of the wrist, I am able to choke a person. Thank you in aiding this demonstration Bofur." Bilbo explained as he demonstrated on Bofur as he turned his back on the burglar, leaving the scarf where he had wrapped it around Bofur's neck before going back to his knitting. Bofur went over to his brother and cousin, firmly believing that he would never look at his scarf the same way ever again. Ori then went over to Bilbo with his own knitting bag, eager to talk to someone else who liked to knit.

"Do you enjoy knitting Master Hobbit, or is it just a necessity for you?" Ori asked as he pulled out his own knitting.

"For me, I see it as a necessary hobby; knitting is a good way to keep your fingers nimble, get warm sweaters and such, and for a bit of extra income, I knit socks and such for the people in Bree and sell them for a fair price. Not to mention, it allows me to keep another 'innocent' weapon on my person; you could easily jab these in a person's eyes, nose or neck, maybe even into the chest if you can get the right momentum which would kill a person almost instantly." Bilbo said without looking up from his knitting, therefore he did not see the look of awe on Ori's face as he looked at his own knitting needles with a new found reverence. That was when they heard the Wargs howl, causing Ori to shrink in fear and Bilbo to sit up sharply.

"That was a Warg Ori, where they are, Orcs are sure to follow and where Orcs go, massacre is left behind." Fili said a smirk which promptly fell off when Kili snapped at him

"Knock it off Fili, that isn't funny." Kili then pointedly looked at their burglar, who was still on high alert, but upon noticing how frightened Ori was, he forcibly calmed down, awkwardly put his arm on Ori's shoulders and said

"Don't worry about it, Fili is only trying to scare you, besides, it only sounded like one or two, and they wouldn't dare attack such a large number when they're numbers are so much smaller."

"Shows what you know; Wargs often disguise their numbers to surprise their prey." Thorin said with a sneer, though many got worried when Bilbo jumped up and snarled

"In case you couldn't tell you minus minded moron, I was trying to put the young ones mind at ease, seeing as how your nephew was doing such a wonderful job of scaring him out of his wits. I know all too well what damage Orcs and Wargs can do to a group."

"I have had enough of this Halfling and his attitude!" Thorin growled as he went to grab Bilbo, and the others moved to pull them away from each other, only to pause the same time Thorin did; Bilbo had drawn his katar and had it aimed right at Thorin's stomach.

"Unless you want to see what your insides look like, mutt, I suggest you back off! I told you back in the Shire; I am half of nothing!" Thorin and Bilbo were glaring at each other with such an intensity the others were surprised they didn't burst into flames. Thorin then stalked off and Bilbo put away his katar. They all let out a collective sigh of relief as the two hotheads moved away from each other.

"Don't mind him, laddie. Thorin has more cause than most to hate Orcs. After the dragon took the Lonely Mountain, King Thror tried to reclaim the ancient dwarf kingdom of Moria... but our enemy had got there first. Moria had been taken by legions of Orcs, led by the most vile of all their race, Azog the Defiler. The giant Gundabad Orc had sworn to wipe out the line of Durin. He began by beheading the King. Thrain, Thorin's father, was driven mad by grief. He went missing, taken prisoner or killed; we did not know. We were leaderless; defeat and death were upon us. That is when I saw him; the young dwarf prince facing down the Pale Orc. He stood alone against this terrible foe, his armour rent, wielding nothing but an oaken branch as a shield... Azog the Defiler learned that day that the line of Durin would not be so easily broken. Our forces rallied and drove the Orcs back; our enemy had been defeated... but there was no feast or songs that night, for our dead were beyond the count of grief. We few had survived and I thought to myself then 'There is one I could follow. There is one I could call King'." Balin told them and Bilbo resolved to be a little easier on Thorin. He then picked up his knitting and went to a different spot just as Thorin came back. Gandalf thought that Bilbo's actions required an explanation as well, so he said

"As for Bilbo's attitude Thorin, this is him actually being quite polite; he too hates Orcs with a passion, and actually it's for a similar reason to yours; when he was twelve years old, Bilbo had convinced his parents to go on a picnic, quite a ways away from the Shire and Bree, but still a bit away from Rivendell. Anyways, they had just set everything out, when they were set upon by five Orcs and seven Wargs. Bungo, his father, shifted into his sneaking shift of a rabbit and tried to lead them away from his wife and son, but to no avail; Bilbo has better eyesight than most Hobbits thanks to his shifts, and saw his father being skewered by an Orc's sword. His mother, Belladonna, then told Bilbo to fly away and she would deal with the Orcs, in his shock, he listened to her and started flying away. She shifted into her land shift of a badger and attacked; she killed two Orc archers before a Warg grabbed her in its mouth, hurled her, and an Orcs mace smashed her skull in. What's worse is Bilbo saw that as well; he had indeed started flying away, but when he heard his mother's pained scream when she was grabbed by the Warg, and arrived in time to see the Orcs take his mother away from him. Bilbo's shock wore off, and in its stead came seething hot rage; he flew right at the Orc with the mace and proceeded to peck its face off. From there, he attacked in any shift that he could switch to, to kill the remaining Orcs and he even managed to kill a Warg before another pinned him to the ground. Just as the Warg was about to eat him, the rangers finally came and killed them. However, that was only the beginning; Bilbo was an only child, and all his relations blamed his mother for what happened, so Bilbo had no one to tell that he blamed the rangers and Elves who eventually came to his aid for his mother's death. He figured if they had gotten there ten minutes earlier, they could have saved his mother. From there, Bilbo's hatred grew until a darkness took over his heart and mind, changing his land shift and touching his flying shift so that he sometimes has trouble; we believe those were the two shifts affected because they were the main ones he used to kill the Orcs. Thankfully, I managed to find Bilbo before the darkness consumed him completely and got him to Rivendell where the Elves healed him, but he is still a being filled with hatred towards all Men and most Elves. He does not mean to be this way; he just has trouble controlling his hate when Orcs and Wargs are mentioned. I am hoping that with him coming on this quest that, while he helps you reclaim your home, your company can help him deal with that hate before it kills him, as dwarves are better at dealing with hatred than any other race. I don't know how well it will work out; Bilbo has been living with that hatred for almost forty years. You see, Bilbo lost his parents on the same day as his birthday; instead of a big party, as is tradition with Hobbits, he wanted to spend his special day with just the two of them."


	3. Bilbo Tricks the Trolls

A/N: I realize that I've moved things a little too quickly, but please forgive me; I'm just trying not to drag this story out. As a small apology though, you're going to get a bit of a clue to Bilbo's land shift and you are going to find out his flying shift! Kind of; it's sort of complicated.

Chapter 3

Bilbo was quite irritated when he found out that while he completed his knitting in peace, Gandalf had given a not so abridged version of his past.

"I don't see how it was any of your business to tell them my past, Gandalf!" Bilbo shouted at Gandalf while the others settled in for sleep; Bilbo had offered to take the first watch since he wasn't tired and he was very steamed at Gandalf.

"Bilbo, I thought it would make things easier for you if you and Thorin had some common ground to stand on."

"What common ground? Yes, we both lost family and even friends to Orcs, but he didn't let an evil darkness invade his heart and mind!" Bilbo whispered viciously.

"How can you be so certain he didn't?" Gandalf asked.

"Gandalf, you weren't there when Radagast was training me; while he helped me control my magic, he helped me discover some new things about the monsters now residing in my soul. Apparently, they can sense other dark forces around me; those that have darkness in their hearts, minds, and souls like I do. Thorin doesn't have that, he is stronger than I could ever hope to be, and all you did by telling them what happened, is tell them how weak I truly am; how could such a strong race ever accept a weakling like me?" Bilbo asked and Gandalf wished he could make Bilbo understand that Bilbo had the strength and courage of any of the Dwarves in the company. However, he knew that there was nothing he could say that would change the Hobbits mind, so he left the matter to get some sleep. Bilbo stayed on high alert all through his shift, desperately wishing he could shift as his senses were ten times greater than as they were now, but he dared not; with Gandalf's words, he knew that the Dwarves already doubted his strength and he could not afford to show them how right they were. When Nori relieved him, he tried to get some sleep and rest; however, there was no chance of rest that night for Bilbo.

Dream Sequence

Bilbo was happily chasing squirrels and chipmunks in his land shift of a simple house cat; he didn't get much chance in the Shire, what with the way the parents all acted around him, but that was their problem. The other children all loved playing with him in this shift; it was fun to play 'Monster Attack' and pretend Bilbo was a lion or something, and Belladonna thought the whole thing a good exercise in caution; after all, there were Big Folk out there that would just love to pick on those smaller than them, so they had to know how to defend themselves. Besides, his mother, and even his father (once he got over the shock) thought he had a simply gorgeous coat; it was orange on top, with a white underbelly, white under his chin and over one eye, with little white splotches on his paws and one on the tip of his tail. His mother and father had both told him to have fun until they were ready with his picnic; it was his special day after all and though he wanted to spend it with them, he should be allowed to indulge in his instincts once and awhile. That was when Bilbo sensed the Orcs coming for them.

End Dream Sequence

"No!" Bilbo harshly whispered as he jerked awake from his nightmarish memory. He quietly got up, taking his bow, his spear, and tying his shield onto his back, deciding that if he couldn't get any sleep, he might as well practice his skills. However, he did not realize that he had woken up just as Bofur was about to take over for Nori, nor that Bifur had heard Bilbo whimpering from his dreams and had woken up in aneffort to help him.

"Where does he think he's going?" Bofur asked Nori, who shrugged, equally worried about Bilbo; he had always been a firm believer that thieves and burglars needed to stick together. Bifur came over as well and asked where their burglar was going.

"Bilbo suffers from horrible nightmares, both of his parents' death, and what happened afterwards; I'm afraid my mentioning it to all of you gave cause for the nightmares to come again. I mentioned it in the hopes Bilbo and Thorin would find common ground in the knowledge they both hate Orcs, as well as Elves and Men. Instead, Bilbo believes you will all find him weak because he 'allowed' evil and darkness into his heart, mind, and soul." Gandalf explained as he popped out of nowhere (annoying how wizards can do that).

"Why would we think that?" Nori asked, not understanding where the little fellow got such an idea.

"Because, that is how the other Hobbits view him; I will not reveal his shifts that is not my place. I can't even tell you what his shifts were before the darkness took him, but all you need to know is that, before the alteration, Bilbo's shifts gave the other Hobbits a sense of unease, but they believed that with his father's guidance, he could become a 'respectable Hobbit worthy of Bagend'. What nobody cared to realize, apart from Bungo himself, was that Bilbo got more from his mother than just her forest green eyes, and her smile; he got her spirit, which I believe to be the reason why his shifts were so different from the norm of both families. But when he came back to the Shire after the transformation from what he was, to what he is, they screamed and called him a monster, a creature unfit to be around 'gentle' folk. Only a few wanted him around, and when I say a few, I mean only about a scant dozen. Others, those who had laughed with him as he chased them in jest, who had once called him friend, now called him monster and abomination." Gandalf saw rage and indignation on the three Dwarfs' faces, and Gandalf felt new life come into the hope he had Bilbo would find friends here.

"Master Bofur, if you would do an old man a favor, I will return one; Bilbo can get rather caught up when he practices, if you would go to where he went off, make sure he doesn't get hurt, and I will take your shift?" Gandalf asked and Bofur absently nodded as he followed Bilbo. What surprised Gandalf however was how Nori and Bifur followed as well. Gandalf had felt that if there had been anyone who would understand Bilbo, it would have been Bofur; nobody much cared for hyenas, especially when they 'laughed'. However, Nori was often told off by Dori, saying such things as Ori did not deserve to have a 'worthless thief' around him as a brother. Why Bifur was going was anyone's guess; not even Gandalf knew too much about him. When the three Dwarfs' found Bilbo, they found him shooting arrows at trees and walking at the same time, sometimes running and shooting as well.

"Practicing hitting a moving target? Ah!" Bofur asked before he ducked as an arrow suddenly came careening towards them on a ricochet.

"Master Bofur, if you value your head, don't ever do that again; wait until I'm reloading to announce, otherwise I will assume you're an enemy and attack."

"Sorry Master Hobbit, we were just wondering why you were up?" Nori asked as Bifur retrieved the arrow for the Hobbit.

"Bad dream couldn't fall back asleep, thought I'd try and practice." Bilbo said with short, clipped answers.

"Well, wouldn't it be better if you practiced with someone?" Bofur asked as he pulled out his mattock, Bifur his boar spear, and Nori his mace.

"Shouldn't the three of you be sleeping instead of making sure I don't accidently hurt myself?" Bilbo asked as he put down his bow and quiver, and picked up his targe and spear.

"Master Baggins, we three firmly believe you could hold your own in a fight; we just want to help you be prepared for less conventional weapons." Bofur explained and the other two nodded.

"Such as which?" Bilbo asked.

"Well, take for example my mattock; I doubt many Hobbits would have ever seen one, let alone used it."

"It's true; I've never known a Hobbit who ever saw a mattock in his life, and neither have I, but I wasn't trained by other Hobbits, they're gentle folk remember?"

"Who were you trained by then?" Nori asked as the other two got ready.

"Elves; after they saved what were left of my mind and soul, they thought it best if I could fight, and so taught me." The other three were shocked at this news; Bifur started saying rather unsavory things about the whole situation. At least, that's what Bilbo assumed, going by his facial expressions and the tone of his voice.

"Lad, don't take this the wrong way, but we three have really got our work cut out for us; tall leaf shaggers teaching a little Hobbit how to fight!" Bofur exclaimed.

"I'll have you know I was able to hold my own and even beat some of those leaf shaggers, two of them Lord Elrond's own sons!" Bilbo almost shouted, and Nori figured he should do damage control quickly.

"He didn't mean to insult you, Master Baggins, we are simply outraged that a member of our company received such inadequate training."

"Well, truth be told, some of my teachers would often remark that it was like teaching a child how to fight; I soon taught them that this 'child' had some strength to back up his anger. It would often make me angry how they would compare me and my attacks to those of a honeybee defending its hive; I could get one good hit, then I die. I did not like that and I was determined to show them I was no honey collecting bee." Bilbo said as he took a defensive stance. The Dwarves could well understand Bilbo's frustration; many thought that just because they were small, they were helpless.

"Well, let's see if you're a bee or a wasp." Bofur said before the three Dwarves attacked. Bilbo's targe was a good match against Nori's mace and Bifur's spear, but Bofur's mattock was proving to be difficult as it could potentially go around his shield, but Bilbo still managed to hold his own against them. However, as Nori brought down his mace onto Bilbo's shield, thus distracting him, Bofur used his mattock to hook onto the shield and tear it off. Now, Bilbo was truly stuck in melee weaponry; on the other hand, Bilbo could not recall ever having this much fun fighting with his Elven teachers. As Bilbo withdrew his katar, he knew he had to come up with a plan to beat them; he managed one in less than thirty seconds, now to see if it would hold water. As Bofur brought down his mattock, Bilbo jumped into the air, only for Bifur to thrust his spear at Bilbo in midair; good thing Bilbo was expecting this. Bilbo used his own two pronged spear to hook onto Bifur's, and with a great heave, was able to pull Bifur's spear away from him, and kick Bifur square in the face; Bifur was almost certain he had a broken nose, as well as a possible concussion. With the momentum of the pull, Bilbo flew clear over Bofur's head, causing Bofur to swing around and try to hit Bilbo with his mattock; again, Bilbo was prepared. Using his now open katar, Bilbo hooked Bofur's mattock, thus stopping his attack. Bilbo then turned his spear around, slammed the blunt end into Bofur's stomach, then pushed the spear up so Bofur's head slammed into the handle and, while Bofur was disoriented, he brought the spear low, behind Bofur's knees, and pulled, making Bofur the one who was flying, though he landed nowhere near as gracefully as Bilbo did.

"Be careful Nori; this is no bee or wasp, tis' a bloody hornet!" Bofur said as he tried to stop the world from spinning.

"Good tactics Master Hornet, but they won't work on me; my weapon is too smooth for your katar, and too thick to be hooked by your spear." Nori said, though he was watching Bilbo's every move; Bilbo had taken out two Dwarves in less than five minutes, with Bifur's nose gushing blood, and Bofur obviously trying very hard not to throw up.

"You're right Nori; they won't work on you, and your mace could easily crush my skull or pierce my chest, so I'll have to use different tactics." Bilbo said before he dropped both spear and katar, and then did a cartwheel towards Nori, grabbing a fistful of dirt along the way. As he landed in front of Nori, he threw the dirt in his face, causing some blindness. As Nori tried to get the sand and gravel out of his eyes, Bilbo brought both hands up, slamming them over Nori's ears, further unbalancing him greatly. From there, Bilbo landed two body shots, as well as shot to the face, as well as a kick to the side of his knee, forcing him to kneel at the pain of it, and followed up with a heel kick to Nori's diaphragm, slamming him into the tree behind him. As Nori tried to get his bearings, Bilbo did three back-flips before he reached his bow and quiver. Bilbo fired three arrows, none penetrating Nori's flesh, instead pinning him to the tree behind him; one in his shoulder near his neck, one in his pant leg on the inner thigh, and the third near his waist.

"Forget hornet Bofur; he's a ruddy scorpion! Any one of these arrows could have killed me, and I couldn't even see him!" Nori said as he tried to pull the arrows out with the arm that wasn't pinned.

"No good Master Nori; those arrows are barbed so they stay within flesh, as well as having a neat feature that allows them to drill into surfaces; I'll have to unwind you and then rip, but I'll fix it for you when we stop again tonight. In the meantime, be thankful I didn't aim for your crotch." Bilbo said with a smirk as he walked over and started digging his arrows out.

"Be thankful also, that this wee scorpion is on our side, and not our enemy. By Mahal lad, if I'd have known ya could fight like that, I would have been more courteous to ya when I arrived!" A new voice said in awe as Dwalin came into view to see two downed Dwarves, one pinned, and a Hobbit standing there smirking.

"So, does that mean you're only courteous to other warriors that could possibly kill you, and not to simple gentle folk that haven't done anything to you?" Bilbo asked as he took his arrows out of the tree and Nori's clothes.

"Easy lad; I just meant if I had known you could potentially put me on my ass, I would never have pushed you around the way I did." Nori could see that that really did nothing for Bilbo's temperament, so he decided to change the line of questioning.

"So, to what do we owe your presence Dwalin?"

"It's about a half hour before my shift, and I asked the wizard where the four of ya had gone. We'll be on the move in about two or three hours, I suggest the four of ya try and get some more sleep so you're not falling asleep on your ponies." Dwalin advised and the three Dwarves and one Hobbit were all shocked that their fight had lasted almost two hours, and Bilbo had actually enjoyed himself.

"Alright, come along gentlemen, I have some remedies in my bag that will help your nose Bifur, your head Bofur, and hopefully my nightmares." Bilbo said as he and Nori helped Bofur stand.

"If you had something to help with nightmares all along, why didn't you use it?"

"Because, if I were to take it right after a nightmare, then the last thought before I go to sleep is still the nightmare, which means I could have a repeat of the nightmare when I wake up again. My remedy only keeps nightmares away when I have no nightmares on my mind before I go to sleep. And right now? I'm feeling pretty damn good." Bifur gently shoved Bilbo as they went to Bilbo's second pack, and Bilbo pulled out a light green ointment and three formulas, two a light blue and one a dark purple.

"Alright, now Bifur, this has to go all over your nose, including a bit under your nose; what it's going to do is mend anything I may have fractured, as well as keeping your nasal passages clear so the bleeding will stop and you can breathe through your nose, as well as helping with any headache problems you may be experiencing." Before Bilbo could continue, Bifur said something that Bofur translated as

"He said you didn't just fracture, you broke."

"To break, I would have had to use my heel to hit the side of your nose. Anyhow, Bofur, Nori, drinking this will stop the world from spinning and help you sleep, just don't drink them too quickly or you'll have an upset stomach to replace your upset heads." Bilbo said and they all thanked him as they took their potions and Bifur started spreading the ointment (that didn't smell nearly as bad as some of Oin's) over his nose. As Bilbo downed his own formula, he hoped he wouldn't dream again tonight.

The Next Day

Bilbo still woke up early, but he felt quite rested, and he also felt like hunting. With a nod and a quick explanation to Dwalin, Bilbo went off hunting for game. As he went deeper into the forest, he cast a little spell that would keep the Dwarves off his tail in case they decided to hunt as well. After he cast the spell, he allowed his shift free reign; felt his body shifting, getting longer, with impressive claws replacing his ordinary nails, fierce jaws and razor sharp teeth replacing his normal ones, and a long tail for balancing. He was an apex predator almost everywhere he went; the animals in this forest had no chance against him. With his keen senses, he soon came across a herd of deer, and his senses told him which were too young, which were middle aged, and which ones were the elders; he found two of the healthiest older ones, got up into a tree, crossed the branches to his prey, and then jumped down… they never even heard him coming. He said a small prayer of thanks to the two animals before he took his claymore and the edges of his katar, making it look like he had hunted the animals like someone would have normally (well, as close as he could manage; some of the teeth marks were a little hard to hide). Having completed this task, he dragged them back to camp, moving as quickly as he could as he did not want to have to defend his kill against another hungry animal; he had shed enough blood already. As he came within earshot of the camp, he heard Kili ask

"Bifur, why has your nose turned green?" Bilbo heard Bifur explain before he heard some laughter and some who made shocked noises.

"While you're all busy being surprised that I could do something like that could somebody HELP ME WITH THESE DAMNED HEAVY CARCASES?! I may be stronger than most of my race, but I am not a behemoth!" Bilbo was then relieved of his burden by Dori, Dwalin, Bombur and Gloin.

"Ah, Bilbo, I see you had a most productive hunt indeed! You truly are quite skilled with your chakram and sword, have any trouble?" Gandalf asked as Bombur set about making a stew from one of the two carcases and Bilbo took some water and removed the cast over Bifur's nose, and Bifur was surprised to realize that there was absolutely no pain whatsoever. The others, particularly Thorin and Dwalin, were all still rather stunned that their little burglar had brought down two full sized deer on his own.

"Only from my own foolishness; I should have just used my bow to bring them down, but I wanted to make sure I was still good with a chakram so I used them instead. I'm really going to need to practice more; it took all three before I could bring even one down." Bilbo replied as he put his weapons away, hoping nobody noticed that his chakram were still under his bedroll, instead of on his person.

"Ah well, you'll get plenty of chances on this journey to regain your skill with it, I'm sure." Gandalf said before they were each given their share of the stew.

"Thank you again brothers for your sacrifice this day." Bilbo whispered, hoping no one heard him, but of course, someone did.

"What's that you're saying Master Hobbit?" Dori asked as he started eating his own breakfast.

"Oh, it's nothing really; just part of a small prayer I say whenever I kill an animal for food."

"Why?" Ori asked.

"Well, it is giving its life for me, so I just think I should acknowledge its sacrifice."

"What is the prayer in its entirety?" Fili asked and Bilbo was just wishing he could go one time without saying his prayer.

"Thank you, brother or sister as the case may be, for your sacrifice this day, while your body remains here, may your spirit be with your ancestors and your creator." Bilbo mumbled, waiting for them to laugh; some of the Elves had laughed when he first said this prayer with them nearby, though Legolas and Arwen quickly silenced them.

"That's a nice little prayer." Was all Ori said before going back to breakfast. Bilbo was stunned that no one had so much as giggled at him and his prayer. All throughout that day, as they moved on, the other Dwarves all asking him various questions about the Shire and everything else, including trying to get more clues about his shifts but Bilbo was not budging, not even when Ori shifted into a pika and sat on his shoulder. The only two not talking to Bilbo were Thorin and Dwalin, and that is because they felt Bilbo had left a major clue on one of the carcases as to what his land shift was; a single bite mark on the neck that had been overlooked and not altered.

"Were you able to see just how large it was?" Thorin asked Dwalin, who shook his head.

"No, that was the first one Bombur started cutting. But Thorin, no matter how big it may or may not be, the fact is the throat was completely crushed; there aren't many animals that could do that and come out of it without a single scratch or bruise."

"I know, and the teeth reminded me of Fili's first kill, could the Hobbit be a lion?"

"I doubt it Thorin; if he was a lion, he would have mentioned something when Kili told him ours. He also would not be ashamed of it, not with the presence of another lion in the company." When they finally stopped, Thorin and Dwalin were certain Bilbo's land shift was either a canine, a feline, or, like his uncle; a wolverine. Meanwhile, both Bilbo and Gandalf wanted to move on a bit further, but on slightly different sources; Gandalf from what he could see, and Bilbo from what his instincts were screaming at him. Bilbo heard Gandalf and Thorin shout at each other, and then saw Gandalf storm away towards him.

"Bilbo, I am going to cool off before I end up killing that idiotic, prideful fool; I need you to keep an eye on things here and make sure none of them get hurt."

"But Gandalf, my instincts are screaming at me that there is something horribly wrong here!"

"I know Bilbo, but Thorin will simply not listen, and there is nothing you or I can do to convince him otherwise, so stay here and try to keep them safe. Oh, but before I forget, your mother wanted you to have this; she had had it made a week after you were born for your coming of age, but simply couldn't trust herself not to give it to you too early, so she asked me to hold on to it. It's an obsidian dagger, and please be careful when you are handling it; it's even sharper than your claymore." Gandalf explained before he left as he gave Bilbo a dagger with a deer bone handle and an obsidian blade. Later that night, as Gloin cleaned his axe, Bilbo tried to discretely copy the technique with both the dagger and his father's pocket knife.

"That's not quite how you do it lad." Gloin said suddenly, causing Bilbo to fumble with the dagger, and catching it on his hand, making it start to bleed. Oin moved quickly and bound it with no problems before sitting next to his brother.

"Easy lad, I'm not going to bite your head off just because you're trying to learn how to clean your weapons, something I'm certain those tree huggers never taught you. Now, you watch me closely this time, instead of out of the corner of your eye, and if you have a question, ask."

"Thank you, Master Gloin; to the Elves, my swords are daggers so they never taught me how to use or take care of a dagger befitting my size."

"I'm not surprised; those tree idiots wouldn't know how to properly train someone if they tried. Anyhow, this is good practice for when I teach my son how to clean his weapons." The others groaned as Gloin, once again, mentioned his son.

"Oh, are you married then, Master Gloin?"

"Please, Master Baggins, don't get him started!" Balin begged but Gloin was all too happy to tell a new person about his wife and child.

"Aye lad, and I happen to be married to the most beautiful Dwarf maiden of them; her name is Niri, and we have the most perfect son; Gimli. This is them." Gloin explained as he pulled out his locket and showed their pictures to Bilbo.

"I agree, she is very beautiful and you have produced a very handsome son." Before Gloin could continue however, Bofur came over and asked Bilbo to take Fili and Kili their food. Bilbo had actually wanted to hear about Niri and Gimli, but his instincts suddenly told him something was horribly wrong. He nodded before grabbing the food to take to the boys. When he saw them looking very worried, he came running over.

"What's happened?"

"Well, we seem to have encountered a slight problem." Fili responded.

"We're supposed to be watching the ponies; we had sixteen." Kili continued.

"Now there's only fourteen." Fili concluded.

"Daisy and Bungo are missing." Kili informed him.

"Alright, we need to tell Thorin." Bilbo said but then he noticed the worried looks on the two boys' faces.

"Actually, we were thinking that possibly, to prove to Thorin that you're not useless, you would like to investigate." Fili suggested and Bilbo sighed as he put their bowls down.

"Boys, if I find out this is a ploy so this whole fiasco can be blamed on me, I assure you I will use my katar to make your insides your outsides." Bilbo said before he went to inspect the scene. He quickly saw that one tree had been completely uprooted and his bad feeling just got worse.

"Boys, I may have an idea as to what caused this, but I pray that I'm wrong, as it would spell very big trouble for us, but I don't think I am; not with the farmer who lived in that cottage that Gandalf knew who suddenly disappeared with his family. And, if that does indeed prove to be the case, I have only one question; WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU TWO IDIOTS DOING THAT YOU DIDN'T HEAR A MOUNTAIN TROLL STEALING TWO OF OUR PONIES?!" Bilbo shouted and the boys tried to come up with a good excuse when they saw a Troll carrying Myrtle and Minty.

"Whatever, come with me, we'll see if we can free the other two if they're still alive." Bilbo said and the two followed him to where the Troll met up with two other Trolls. They could distantly hear the three talking, but Bilbo knew they meant to eat the ponies, and they needed a plan, fast.

"Alright, we need to do something, and we need to do it fast."

"We?" Fili and Kili asked and Bilbo barely refrained from slamming their heads against the trees.

"Yes, 'we', you idiots; I may be a fighter, but I alone can't take down three fully grown Mountain Trolls and live to tell about it! Now, I may have something of a plan, but I need to know you two will do exactly as I tell you, because if just one step goes wrong, one or all three of us could be killed! Now, Kili, I'm going to give you some herbs and such; you are to sneak around behind them, and when their attention is focused on me, you drop the herbs into their stew pot. Once that is done, you get the hell out of there and Fili, you go for your uncle and the others. Meanwhile, I will lead them on a merry chase indeed." Bilbo said as he handed the herbs, belladonna, some castor beans, some hemlock, monkshood, angel trumpet and a fair bit of oleander, to Kili and the other two were shocked when Bilbo said he would be out-and-out grabbing the Trolls' attention.

"But-"

"Don't argue with me, just do as I say, now go!" Bilbo said before running off into another part of the forest. He hoped the boys would listen to him about waiting for him to appear, as he needed to do something before getting the Trolls attention, in case plan A didn't fully work out, though he hoped it would work at least two-thirds, or they would be in serious trouble. He normally would have set the trap by hand, but he had no time, so he used his magic to make a gravesite fit for a Troll, while also summoning the sharp bones from the deer he killed earlier, and enlarging them as well as making them stronger, turning it into a stake pit, he then covered it with an illusion, and went to play his part. His shift gave him strong night vision, so he could tell that Fili was where he had left him, and Kili was in the perfect position for their plan; that being said, it was time to see if he could instigate a rescue plan as well as a fight plan.

"Evening gents!" All three Trolls turned to look at the strange little creature that had suddenly wandered into their clearing.

"What's that, Bert?"

"I never seen anything like it, William!"

"Here, what are you?" One asked Bilbo directly, and he could see Kili getting ready for his do-or-die move.

"I am a creature that has no true race, as I am despised by the one I was born into, and I despise all but one of the other races that are not mine." Bilbo said, making sure that they kept full attention on him.

"What does that mean? Can I eat him?" One, Bilbo thought his name was Tom, asked as he reached for him, but Bilbo easily sidestepped him and said

"If you do that, you'll simply spoil your appetite for the stew your friend has prepared for you and that would not be polite at all." Bilbo said and the one who had been stirring, Bert, suddenly looked angrily at Tom and smacked his head with the ladle.

"That's right! You'll not be having no snacks before you eat what I made for you!" Bilbo saw Kili drop the herbs and run; good, phase one was complete.

"It's just the same with the children of my birth race; you work all day to make them something, only to find out they already ate while they were out playing. It does look good though, mind if I try it? I'm a horrible cook and am always on the lookout for tips." Bilbo said and Bert looked pleased at the idea that someone wanted tips from him on how to cook; he dipped his ladle in and offered it to Bilbo.

"Mmh, not bad, but I think there's something missing, don't you?" Bilbo asked and was pleased when he tried the stew, only to make a face at it.

"You're right, No Race; something is missing, what do you think William?" William then tried the stew, and Bilbo tried to keep his relief off of his face.

"Yeah something, - oh my stomach!" William screeched as suddenly he and Bert doubled over in intense pain.

"What did you do, No Race?!" Tom roared and Bilbo simply said

"Don't blame me over the fact your friends can't taste poisonous and toxic plants pea brain!" Bilbo then ran to his trap as fast as he could as Tom chased him to the dying cries of his comrades. As Bilbo neared the trap, he once again allowed his shift to take over, though this one was for flight. He felt his body shrinking, growing feathers, exchanging his feet and toes for talons with sharp claws, his mouth for a small, pale pink beak, and as they reached the edge of the trap, Bilbo allowed his impressive forty-five inch wingspan to fly him out of the way of the falling Troll, as he landed in the trap and on the spikes that went through his chest, his femoral arteries, his neck and his eyes, straight to his brain.

"BILBO!" Bilbo groaned as he heard Kili scream his name. That idiot! I told him to beat it after he dropped the herbs in the pot, what is he still doing here?! I hope the other two Trolls are dead already; a wounded and dying animal is a lot more dangerous than a healthy live one. Bilbo thought as he flew back to the Trolls camp, and Bilbo became very worried indeed as he saw the third Troll, William, was still alive and trying to grab Kili. Out of the corner of his eye, Bilbo saw Thorin and the others racing towards them, about to enter the clearing, but, as he saw Kili stumble and fall, Bilbo feared they would arrive too late to completely save the Dwarf princeling, and so, in a completely idiotic move, Bilbo flew at full speed to William and proceeded to peck his eyes out.

"AHH! Get away you stupid bird; I never did nothing to you!" As Bilbo finished, he flew over, grabbed Kili's bow and flung it, along with a single arrow, towards the young Dwarf, who caught them, and fired just as William turned back around at Bilbo's screech and, in a shot worthy of the best Elf archer, shot his arrow straight into the Troll's mouth. That, along with the poison already in his stomach and bloodstream, finally brought the Troll down. However, as the Troll fell, Bilbo realized the Troll would land right on Kili, crushing him! Flying as fast as he could, Bilbo rammed Kili hard enough that he started rolling, and was surprised as Kili held him to his chest as they rolled. When Kili landed on his back, Bilbo flew out of his arms onto a tree branch so he could catch his breath, and heard Thorin shout

"What in Durin's name is going on here?!"

"We lost some of the ponies, and Bilbo was helping us get them back, we made two of the Trolls sick and the third one chased Bilbo, and then he fell on him and -"

"I assure you Master Kili, Bilbo is quite safe, aren't you Bilbo?" Gandalf asked as he suddenly appeared and the others were amazed as a bird flew down from the trees to take Gandalf's staff as a perch. He was maybe twenty-two inches in length, had beautiful golden brown feathers, his heart shaped face and deep black eyes gave a starling appearance, almost like that of a mask, but they could tell, it was Bilbo and he was a fairly large owl.

"His flight shift is an owl? Why should he be ashamed of that?" Dori asked as Ori reached up and stroked a few feathers, trying to get the dirt out and smooth the ones that had gone out of place.

"I think I should explain that in the Shire, most flying shifts are canaries, finches, sparrows, and others that are bit smaller than Bilbo here. Secondly, Bilbo here is a Barn Owl, also known as a Tyto, and these owls will eat almost anything, from a small insect like a moth, to anything that is as large as him, such as a Spotted Nothura. Thirdly, Hobbit sneaking shifts are usually small burrowing animals and rodents; again, an ideal diet for a Barn Owl, as well as his sneaking shift; a Least Weasel, an animal that could even take down prey bigger than itself, such as a rabbit, another fairly common shift in the Shire." Bilbo let out a screech as Gandalf revealed his sneaking shift.

"I'm sorry, dear boy, but they needed to know! All of your shifts are excellent for sneaking around, and I will not allow you to be called useless!" Gandalf said with a slight glare to Thorin, who didn't notice it as he stared at the medium sized bird who had saved his nephew, one of two beings left of his sister, ever since she died three months ago.

"I don't understand though, how did you kill the Trolls?" Balin asked and Bilbo jumped off the staff and shifted as he touched the ground.

"I gave Kili a number of toxic plants, belladonna, monkshood, oleander and such, to put into their stew pot to poison them; I've been collecting them from the side of the roads as we've been travelling for an instance such as this. However, I knew the chances of all three eating the stew before effects took place were slim, so, I laid a trap."

"And a very good one to, my boy! You may be a bit rusty when it comes to your chakram, but you have not lost your talent for traps!" Gandalf said as Bilbo showed them the trap, though he made the bones look like sharp wooden stakes.

"How did you manage this?!" Bombur asked in amazement as they looked at the Troll corpse.

"Well… uh, you see, the thing is… ugh, I'm the one that Radagast trained; I'm a nature wizard, I discovered it when the Orcs attacked my mother, all of a sudden a thunderstorm appeared as she died. I didn't want anybody to know because apart from doing little things like this, and sometimes messing with the weather, I'm a pretty useless wizard. But making a pit and then filling it with these spikes is a rather simple trick. Which reminds me, once my arms is better and my head stops throbbing, I'm going to kill you Kili! I told you to leave once you dropped the herbs in the pot!" Bilbo shouted at Kili, who flinched but said

"I couldn't just leave you to face three Trolls by yourself!"

"And what in blue blazes were you going to do?! A cheetah's teeth and claws would barely scratch their skin!"

"Bilbo, you told me the night you met me that you thought I was a good man in a storm, that that was what your instincts were telling you; a good man doesn't leave another to possibly die while fixing his mistakes!" All were surprised as Kili said this; apparently Bilbo's faith in the young aristocrat sparked an amazing desire to live up to it and surpass it.

"That may be, but it wasn't part of the plan!"

"I thought you had been crushed! As far as I was aware, that wasn't part of the plan either!" Kili shouted back.

"Now, now boys, I think it's safe to say that you were both highly worried for each other, with Kili revealing himself and Bilbo willing to be crushed to save Kili from the same fate. Now, Thorin and I are going to see if the trolls had a cave nearby; they could not have moved in daylight or they would have turned to stone. While we look for it, we want all of you to be on your guard; Mountain Trolls have not ventured this far south since a darker power ruled these lands, and they may only be the first stones of a far darker avalanche." Gandalf said as he Thorin, Dwalin, Bofur, Gloin and Nori went to find the Troll horde. Now that three of his secrets were out in the open, Bilbo wondered what the repercussions would be in the long run.

A/N: Whew! That went on longer than I expected! And, it turns out you found out two of Bilbo's shifts, but don't forget, I said that his flight shift was touched, not completely altered. Now, what could I mean by that :)? And, I realized I may have implicated Dis was alive in the last chapter, that was a mistake; Dis died three months before the journey started from an illness. Now, with Kili seeing Fili as being Thorin's heir and possible favourite, he is looking for someone he can impress with his skills, which isn't all that easy as everyone just sees him as a mischief maker. And whola, here is Bilbo whose instincts say Kili is the one to trust; he never said anything about trusting Fili and for Kili, that is the boost and praise he's been looking for. Also, just for clarification, Gandalf said Bilbo's chakram and claymore because of the slash marks from the claws; they would more closely resemble chakram slices than anything else. Next chapter, Radagast, Rivendell, reveal of the land shift, and Kili really displaying drop dead loyalty to Bilbo. Could that loyalty be stronger than his loyalty to Thorin? Review and tell me what you think so far.


	4. Bilbo Shows His Claws

A/N: I finally got a laptop of my own! It's not the greatest, it's my dad's old one, which originally belonged to my brother, but at least I have a laptop instead of always being on my phone. So, in this chapter, we meet Radagast, we fight off a few Orcs, we arrive in Rivendell, we find out Bilbo's land shift, and we see Thorin being a douche as well as Kili acting very mature and, dare I say, noble? By the way, I realize I may be making Thorin seem like a very big douche, but badgers aren't exactly the most social of animals, and combined with his life experiences, not to mention how wolves can sometimes get, I see it all bleeding together, though Thorin tries to keep it all separate. I also just want everyone to know, I chose a barn owl for Bilbo because some see it as a rather plain looking owl (I personally find it quite beautiful, especially when its flying and the sun shines through its wings) but is in fact a carnivore, so it can be rather vicious, rather like a crazy little Hobbit taking down an Orc all by his lonesome.

Chapter 4

Bilbo was in a sort of meditation phase, keeping his ears pealed for any unwelcome sounds, when Fili suddenly came over.

"Mr. Baggins, I would just like to thank you for saving Kili back there; if you hadn't of first blinded the Troll, and then shoved Kili out of the way, I don't think we could have gotten there in time to save him."

"It was my plan in motion that put him in that situation; if he had died; his blood would have been on my hands. Besides which, if I had informed the two of you of my trap, then he never would have done something as stupid as he did; I just didn't want to have to explain the whole business about being an owl; especially not at that moment." Bilbo replied as stretched his body out.

"Yes well, you see the thing is, as far as Dwarves go, my brother and I are somewhat odd, Kili even more so. For one, Dwarves seldom have shifts that are anything but land animals, no family has ever had a pair of otters. For another, the Durin line does occasionally produce felines, however, they are usually felines built for strength and power, sometimes for sneaking about unnoticed; there have been a few ocelots, jaguarundi, and other big cats that lack in size, but there has never been a cheetah. I'm afraid Kili has always been picked on, whether for his cheetah shift or his almost Elvish appearance. I can get rather… protective of him." Fili finished and he saw that while he had been talking, Bilbo had looked for more plants for his herb and medicine bag, but he knew Bilbo had been listening.

"Hobbits don't have shifts for water either, which I always thought rather stupid, since Hobbits themselves can't swim. Also, in reference to your protecting him, I imagine that is how most big brothers or sisters feel, that they must constantly protect their younger siblings. However, as you grow older, I imagine you start to face a bit of a dilemma; finding a way to say you will always be there to protect them while not being over protective and saying you don't think they can take care of themselves. You know, we had a pair of brothers born once to one of the Brandybuck lines, they were twins and the eldest believed that since he was born a whole half hour before his brother, he was the protector, and let me tell you the younger resented it every minute."

"What happened?"

"Well, one day, the younger twin got fed up with the whole thing and ran off; many of us were terribly worried as there were some rather unsociable animals that could easily hurt such a young one. Well, his brother was one of the many looking for him, and instead found an extremely large, extremely bad-tempered porcupine. Well, he was very worried because this porcupine had been reported as having a reputation of chase someone practically to death, and cause severe injury bordering on death; a little Hobbitling with the land shift of a hedgehog, sneak shift of a field mouse and had yet to be able to actually fly beyond simple branching had absolutely no chance of surviving such an encounter. My gardener, Hamfast, and I arrived in time to see the younger brother, whose land shift we found out that day was a badger, scare off the porcupine, showing his brother and the rest of the Shire that just because he was younger, did no way imply he was weaker." Fili listened and he had to admit, Bilbo's story did prove a valid point.

"Well, for what it's worth, I'm glad our burglar is an owl; a bird any smaller and my brother would have been a pancake. I also happen to think least weasels are cute and I hope you will show us your shift sooner, rather than later when we are in trouble again." Fili said with a grin.

"Bilbo! Gandalf wants ya!" Bofur shouted to the two, who quickly came over to where he was, though Bilbo was unable to get any closer to the Troll hoard, as his nose with his sense of smell simply could not stand it.

"Bilbo, this one is about your size." Bofur and Fili could both see Bilbo tense at the sight of the Elven sword, not that they blamed him; they wouldn't want an Elvish weapon either.

"Gandalf, I already have a sword, and I believe whole heartedly in the abilities and capabilities of my claymore."

"Yes, but this sword is of Elvish make, and will glow blue when Orcs and Goblins are around, as opposed."

"Gandalf, even if my senses did not warn me when there were Orcs or Goblins around, and they do, if I wanted something that could physically tell me, I would simply acquire a piece or Elvish metal to wear as a medallion." Bofur and Fili, though in agreement over not wanting an Elvish weapon, could not understand exactly why Bilbo was thinking up such strange reasons as not to take it.

"Bilbo, despite what you may think of yourself, there is no reason why you cannot take this blade!" Gandalf said and the others could see he was becoming annoyed.

"Gandalf, it is not right for something dark to wield an Elf blade! You give me that sword and it will not be long before it becomes covered in blood!"

"Bilbo, despite what the Hobbits of the Shire may have conditioned you to believe about yourself, I for one believe that you know when to take a life and when to spare it!"

"Oh yeah? Why don't you ask those three Trolls back there? Oh wait, they're dead!"

"You had no choice!"

"I should have found another way instead of killing them! I could have just knocked them out!"

"Bilbo, you and I both know you made the plan so that it would kill the Trolls to protect the Dwarves from danger! I don't know why you refuse to admit that that was the reason why you did what you did the way you did, but all you did was protect your companions, and therefore deserve this weapon."

"If I take the sword, will it end this conversation?" Gandalf gave Bilbo the sword, only for Bilbo's head to suddenly snap up.

"Someone's coming!"

"Arm yourselves!" As Gandalf said this, Bilbo tied the little sword around his belt, drew his claymore as well as his targe and arming the covered arm with his obsidian dagger, and came running up between Fili and Oin. They were all rather shocked when Radagast came running out instead of an Orc pack.

"Thieves! Fire! Murder!"

"Radagast, calm down and tell us what's wrong!" Bilbo shouted as he lowered his weapons, only to regret announcing his own presence as Radagast, surprised at seeing his former student, replied

"Black claw?! What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing, and please don't refer to me as Black claw here."

"I was looking for Gandalf here, but now that I know you're here, I think you better hear this as well. I found something that, if it's what I think it is, it is a precursor to something absolutely horrible!" Bilbo left the Dwarves in shock as he and Gandalf went to listen to what Radagast had to say. Bilbo became very worried as he found out that the Greenwood was sick, and his nerves were alight with fire as he withdrew the Morgul blade; these were indeed bad omens. That was when they heard the howling. Bilbo quickly summoned his bow and quiver as he heard Ori plead

"Please tell me that that was a wolf!" And Bofur replied

"Sorry Ori, but that was no wolf." Bilbo arrived in time to see the Warg appear and take a flying leap at the two Dwarves below. Bilbo couldn't even draw breath to warn them as he let an arrow fly straight into the side of the beast's skull, and saw it drill into its skull. He then saw another coming at Dwalin from behind.

"Kili, shoot!" Kili let loose an arrow of his own that hit the beast in the shoulder, and Dwalin and Thorin finished it off.

"Warg scouts, which means an Orc pack is not far behind!"

"When we get a moment, remind me to show you how to make a kill shot without truly aiming; trust your instincts. In the meantime, we are being hunted by creatures even I couldn't outrun." Bilbo said as he came next to Kili, who simply nodded.

"I'll draw them off; give you all a chance to make a break for it!" Radagast said and Bilbo wasn't thrilled over the idea of his friend and mentor being bait.

"These are Gundabad Wargs! They will out run you!"

"These are Rhosgobel Rabbits! I'd like to see them try. Black claw I found this in my forest, see how it works for you and take care of yourself as well as your companions!" Radagast said as tossed a war hammer to Bilbo and took off on his sled. Bilbo threw his targe on his back and gathered his weapons, along with the new hammer, as they took off, on foot since the ponies had all bolted. However, Bilbo quickly realized there was a problem with their plan; they had forgotten to tell Radagast their route, and so they kept being cut off. Another problem was that Bilbo was fighting the urge to fire an arrow and give away their position, but it didn't sit well with his gut that Radagast was acting as a decoy. As they got pinned to a rock however, Bilbo had a feeling he was going to get his chance after all, though Bilbo wished Thorin had chosen him to be the archer; again, Kili hit the shoulder and the beast as well as its rider fell, practically on them. Bilbo ducked under Dwalin's arm and slammed the sharp point of the hammer into the Orc's head, following up with his katar, firmly gutting the Orc as Bifur and Dwalin killed the Warg.

"Not bad Hobbit." Dwalin said and Bilbo could only nod; now they had the rest of the pack to contend with.

"Run!" Bilbo was grabbed around the collar by Nori, as if he was making sure Bilbo came with them instead of staying to fight. Soon however, they had nowhere left to run.

"There's more coming!" Kili shouted.

"We're surrounded!" Fili followed and Thorin shouted as he drew his new sword

"Hold your ground!" They were all a little shocked though as something went whizzing past Thorin's head, only to take the head off of the Orc that had been coming towards him, followed by an arrow that was sent spiraling into the head of the Warg he had been riding. Thorin, Bofur, and a couple others turned to see Bilbo with his bow in one hand, and another hand reaching for another chakram. They all felt their blood go cold however as they saw an Orc sneak up behind their little warrior burglar.

"Bilbo, behind you!" Bofur screamed as the creature grabbed Bilbo and was obviously going to slit his neck when Bilbo said

"Big mistake, ugly!" Bilbo then slammed his elbow into his shield, releasing the hidden spike right into the Orc's stomach, causing him to drop Bilbo and fall to his knees in pain and shock. Bilbo, never one to miss an opportunity, slammed the targe again into the Orc's shoulder, and used his obsidian dagger to stab him three times in the face. As he turned around, he seemed to let out a snarling roar akin to a leopards or lions. He then aimed his spear at a Warg Ori had aimed at, but his sling shot had been nothing to the beast.

"We better think of something; we can't keep this up." Dwalin said and Thorin had to agree; the numbers of the monsters still greatly outnumbered them, even though he had to admit he had not given Bilbo the respect he deserved. He then noticed the sky darken, and the clouds gather around them.

"What the-?"

"Thorin, look at Bilbo!" Dori shouted and Thorin turned in time to see Bilbo raise his hands to the sky as a powerful bolt of lightning hit the Hobbit.

"Bilbo!" Thorin could hear Kili shout but he kept his eyes on the Hobbit as he convulsed, and then brought his hands down, aiming at one of the advancing Orcs. They were all stunned as they watched the Orc and Warg convulse before the electricity broke off through him and hit the two Wargs behind him and so on, until seven Wargs and three Orcs were enveloped in the lightning, before they seemed to disintegrate, and the lightning gave out, and Bilbo almost fainted, had it not been for Balin and Bombur.

"That little wizard is half crazy, is he alright?" Dwalin said to Thorin then asked his brother.

"He's breathing very erratically; we need to end this fight quickly before he gets it in his fool head to try that again!" Balin relied, but all thoughts left them as the heard Gloin yell

"Ori, look out!" One Orc with a whip had grabbed Ori and was about to bring his mace down when Bilbo jumped up away from Bombur and Balin, and ran faster than most could see, jumped again as he reached Ori and the Orc, and brought his claymore down on the arm that had been holding the whip and subsequently Ori, completely severing it. The Orc, however, swung his mace and hit Bilbo full in the chest, sending him crashing into a rock.

"Bilbo!" As the Orc got ready to finish Bilbo, Ori picked up Bilbo's fallen claymore and swung it with all his might, managing to actually behead the Orc (a/n: if anyone doubts this capable, watch the Deadliest Warrior episode William Wallace vs. Shaka Zulu).

"Now, he really needs medical attention!" Dwalin said and Thorin had to agree; an attack like that could seriously injure a person that was wearing armor, let alone what it could do to someone who was wearing none. Still though, the idiot was trying to get back up and rejoin the fight, when suddenly they heard

"This way you fools! Bilbo can't take anymore!" They saw Gandalf standing amongst some rocks, and for once, Thorin did not argue; Bilbo needed attention immediately if he was going to make it. They all ran to where Gandalf was, with Bilbo held tightly between Ori and Fili as they slid down, trying to minimize any further injury to their little warrior and Ori's saviour. Thorin leapt down last, just as they heard a horn sound.

"I may possibly be suffering from a concussion and several broken ribs, but I'm pretty sure that that is an Elf horn sounding, not an Orc horn." Bilbo replied from where he was leaning on Nori and Thorin winced as he got a good look at the Hobbit; he did not look good at all, his head leaking blood, and Thorin could see his hands severely blistered and burned.

"I cannot see where the passage leads; do we follow it or no?" Dwalin called and Bofur angrily replied

"Follow it of course; we need to get Bilbo someplace safe to look after his wounds!" Nori was about to lift and carry Bilbo when Bilbo said

"No offence, but nobody carries me." Thorin was about to argue with the idiot when Nori said,

"Then how about you just lean on me? You know, everybody leans on somebody else once in a while." Bilbo looked like he wanted to decline, but the combined looks of Ori, Fili and Kili about to cry promptly shut Bilbo the Warrior up. As they trudged along, they made sure to keep an even pace; with Nori making sure Bilbo didn't hit anything. When they finally made it outside, Bilbo wished he had passed out

"You brought us to Rivendell! Gandalf you barmy old wizard, are you crazy!? When Lord Elrond sees me, we are both promptly going to wish that I had been killed back there!" The others were all surprised when they heard this but had to agree with Gandalf (no matter how reluctantly) when he said

"Bilbo, you are grievously injured, Lord Elrond will be able to heal you much better than Oin, yourself or myself could possibly. However, I will attempt to make sure he directs most of his anger towards me and not you. Come along, and Thorin, if you are unable to keep a civil tongue in your mouth, then I suggest you keep it shut." Normally, Fili, Kili and a couple others would have chuckled at such a comment, but these were not normal circumstances. As they entered the greeting court, they were met by a young dark haired Elf.

"Lindir, I must speak with Lord Elrond at once, one of my friends is badly injured, and in need of aid." Gandalf spoke quickly and to the point.

"My Lord Elrond is not here." Lindir said as he looked for the injured one, though Bilbo was doing his best to hide, doubly so when they heard the horn from before sound again.

"Close ranks!" Thorin shouted as the Elves on their horses came back and surrounded them. Nori gently pushed Bilbo behind them and tried to keep their injured comrade safe.

"Gandalf!" Elrond called from his great black stallion and Bilbo whimpered as he tried to duck down lower but felt pressure build on his ribs.

"Lord Elrond." The two embraced and then, horror of horrors, Elrond held up Bilbo's spear and chakram.

"I don't suppose there's a good reason why I found these on the Great East Road, is there?" Just as Gandalf was about to answer, a new voice entered the courtyard.

"Father, has Bilbo arrived yet?" A tall beautiful female Elf appeared looking around, and many became confused at her question.

"Arwen? What do you mean?"

"Well, I found a new weapon that I thought Bilbo might like and so I wrote him to visit me here. I didn't tell you because I thought that you would forbid him from coming." The new Elf, Arwen, replied and Bilbo thanked Yavanna for her quick thinking.

"Arwen, you know that it's safer for him in the Shire."

"But father, he gets so bored there and he is so despised, at least here he has Estel and me to talk to."

"Bilbo, my daughter spins a good story, no doubt with minor seeds of truth thrown in, but I can always tell when she is lying, especially when I find it too large a coincidence that she should send for you the same time Gandalf and thirteen Dwarves, including Thorin, son of Thrain, appear in my courtyard." Bilbo figured the jig was up and so came out. Figuring that Elrond would probably forbid him from continuing with the quest anyhow, he further figured there was no harm in the Dwarves knowing why he could no longer follow them. He allowed the more dangerous shift to come first, hoping it would soften the blow a bit.

"Kili, you wanted to know what I was that I could bring down an Oliphant with no trouble. Here, is your answer." Bilbo then felt his jaw and nose lengthen, felt a long bushy tail spring from his tailbone, and felt his fingers and toes merge into paws; where once stood Bilbo Baggins, the most hated Hobbit in the Shire, now stood a giant silvery wolf/Warg hybrid.

"He's a Warg?!" Thorin shouted and Bilbo couldn't help but whimper at how angry he sounded.

"To be fair, Master Oakenshield, he is a mix between a Warg and a wolf; this is one way the darkness changed his land shift. Bilbo, would you care to show the other way?" Elrond asked and Bilbo sadly nodded his head as he let his new 'natural' shift take over. The tail became longer and sleeker, his body more muscular, his legs shorter, his muzzle shrank, and his fur changed from silver to gold; he was now in the body of a golden tiger.

"Take him to the healing rooms at once, I will explain here then join him. Arwen, go with him." Arwen nodded as another Elf came and picked Bilbo up, though he tried to squirm; he may have just lost the closest things to friends he had had in a long time, but he still had his dignity.

"What you just saw was the body of a Golden Tiger, though he is that only superficially; he is actually a combination of the strongest features of the strongest big cats combined. He has the jaw crushing capabilities of a jaguar, the strong climbing limbs of a leopard mixed with the jumping capabilities of the tiger, the night vision of an ocelot and the claws as well as agility of a cougar. Meanwhile, a further mutation is that, in the summer, he is a golden tiger, when autumn arrives, he will be an orange tiger, and when winter comes he will be a white tiger." Elrond explained and the others were all shocked, and then Bofur said

"A tiger for all seasons." Lord Elrond then offered them dinner before heading off to assess the damage done to Bilbo, and Thorin made a gesture that meant they would all be talking later.

Later that night

"He took a look at the map, and said that the moon runes would be visible in about a week, if we're lucky. In the meantime, I thought we should discuss the issue concerning the Hobbit." Thorin filled them all in as they held their meeting on a moonlit balcony, but Kili had a bad feeling as to what his uncle was talking about.

"What 'issue'?" Kili was summarily ignored as Thorin went on to say

"I think he should be left here; we have no way of guaranteeing he won't attack one of us."

"NO!" Kili shouted and this time no one could ignore him as he stood in front of his uncle.

"Kili, I know you are fond of him but he is a Warg and-"

"He's a wolf/Warg hybrid, why should he be condemned for that?! You're a wolf for Mahal's sake!"

"Yes, but I can control my wolf, he obviously cannot control his animal side; one would think he wasn't even trying!"

"So?! We condemn someone just because their ways are different than ours?!"

"Kili, calm down." Fili tried to beg his little brother as he could tell Thorin was quickly becoming annoyed.

"No I won't calm down! You're all getting ready to explain to Bilbo that he can't come with us just because he kept secrets from us? Because he has a shift you don't like? Well, I'm an otter and a cheetah, should I stay behind with Bilbo?"

"Of course not, you're shifts are useful and-" again, Kili cut Thorin off with

"And I suppose a larger than average wolf isn't useful, and neither is a tiger? Thorin, you are letting your hatred for Orcs cloud your judgement here; Bilbo isn't a threat to anyone but the enemy, our enemy! Or have you all forgotten how he almost singlehandedly saved the ponies from three Trolls, saved me from being crushed by a Troll, saved you Thorin, saved Ori, saved all of us from the Orc pack?!"

"Kili in battle he acts more animal than man-"

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING RIGHT NOW WITHOUT THE EXCUSE OF BATTLE?!" Kili shouted and Thorin went to backhand his nephew when all of a sudden a blur appeared in front of him and took the slap, making him fall to the ground. They all watched in shocked horror as Bilbo fell heavily on his arm and bandaged ribs, and then spat out a mouthful of blood as he tried to raise himself.

"I guess I should have looked for the clause where you're allowed to hit someone when they disagree with your informed opinion on something."

"Bilbo, what are you doing up? You should be resting in bed." Bofur asked as he and Bifur gently helped Bilbo stand.

"Lady Arwen told me she saw you all look like you were heading for a meeting, and I could only guess at what you were talking about. I just wanted to know if you were going to come up with an excuse such as 'I would heal much better in the safe shores of Rivendell' or a simple 'We don't like Wargs, get lost' or maybe you weren't going to tell me at all, just slip away when you found out the secrets of your map and then you wouldn't have to face me! But let me tell you something, King Under the Mountain; you have a problem with my shift, you take it up with me, you don't take it out on someone stupid enough to defend me!" Bilbo proclaimed and they knew he meant it. Many were actually shocked that Thorin would have actually gone through with it and strike his own nephew.

"Stay out of this hal-"

"Say 'Halfling' and I'll let you have it on principle!" Bilbo growled and then quickly shifted into a tiger as Thorin attacked him in his wolf shift.

"Bilbo, Thorin, stop this at once!" Gandalf shouted but neither seemed to hear him. Finally, Kili shifted into his cheetah shift and tried to get between the two juggernauts.

"Kili, get out of there, it's not safe!" Balin shouted but Kili responded

"Neither is it safe for Bilbo; he's got broken ribs on top of a concussion, he shouldn't be fight- ah!" Kili suddenly screamed as his paw was bitten. The thing was, it was his right paw that was bitten; Bilbo was on his left. Bilbo then went over and started licking his wound; tiger's saliva was an antiseptic, so he was actually disinfecting the wound. Fili then bound it for him.

"Do you know why I embrace my animal shifts, even though I hate them, Thorin Oakenshield? So that what you just did never ever happens to me; by embracing the shifts, you can control your instincts, by fighting them, all you are doing is making them stronger until you are no longer someone who can shift into an animal, you are an animal that can shift into a human." Bilbo said before he left, with Kili trailing behind him. Bofur looked at his brother and cousin then went to follow.

"Where are you three going?" Thorin asked and Bofur honestly replied

"He's a larger than average wolf, who's to say you won't do the same to a hyena? I lied Thorin; the hyena is my dominant, not the fox."

"Yes but you keep the animal in check."

"So do you, but which one was the one who bit Kili? That wasn't a tiger bite, it was a wolf bite." Bofur and his family then left to follow Bilbo. Nori and Ori looked at each other and went to follow.

"Don't tell me you two agree with them?" Dori asked and Nori replied

"What can I say? I know what it's like to not be wanted by some of your own race just because of whom and what you are." Ori followed with

"He saved my life Dori; he was exhausted beyond belief and dealing with burned hands, but he picked up his claymore and came running to my rescue. Don't ask me to hate someone I know to be good, even if he is kinda grouchy Dori; it would be like someone telling me that hating you was the appropriate reaction." The younger Ri brothers then left to follow the Ur family. Dwalin could not believe how badly the company was divided.

"In the morning, we'll try and talk to them but Thorin, I want you to look me straight in the eyes and tell straight out that the reason you want Mr. Baggins gone is because you are worried he'll attack someone, not because he simply bears a resemblance to the creature your enemy rides." Thorin found himself unable to fully look his trusted advisor in the face, how could he when he had been the one who bit Kili?

"I thought I taught you better than that." Was all Balin said as he and Dwalin left, with Dori, Oin, and Gloin following until it was only Fili and Thorin.

"Do you agree with your brother or me?"

"Thorin, you are my uncle, and when dad died you helped mom raise me and Kili while also setting things up in the Blue Mountains. I will always love and respect you, but with all due respect, you don't know Bilbo; he may always be grouchy, but I just think it's because he doesn't want to let people get close to him because he's afraid that when they discover his shifts, they'll hate him for something he can't control. I'm sorry, but all you did tonight was prove him right; Bilbo has been very helpful on the quest so far, but you are willing to overlook all his good because he carries the shape of an enemy." Fili then left, going in the direction of his little brother. Thorin sighed heavily as he tried to think on what to do, and he was so caught up, he didn't hear the Black Panther until she was right in front of him.

"Bilbo was right; you don't allow any of your animal senses to bleed through, otherwise you would have sensed me coming long before now." Arwen said and Thorin growled though it was not the growl of a wolf.

"What do you want?" Thorin growled, unwilling to deal with an Elf right now, even if said Elf was the daughter of his host.

"Only to show you something, in an effort to understand just what Bilbo really is. Please, follow me." Thorin sighed but got up to follow anyways. She led him down a corridor that seemed abandoned, and as they neared two doors, he noticed claw marks of both felines and canines on the walls.

"This is the first thing I want to show you." Arwen said as she nudged the door open before Thorin pushed it the rest of the way. Inside, was a demolished room, with claw marks all over the wall, and the furniture badly destroyed with both teeth and claw marks all over it.

"After my father saved Bilbo's heart and body, his mind was still in turmoil, and he refused to come out of his newly christened tiger shift, so he was locked up in here. Some were terrified to even pass this hallway, let alone walk down it to feed him, and every day he seemed to get worse; more vicious, more willing to attack anyone who came through that door. Soon, some were saying that his mind was too badly damaged, and he should be put down, for it was not truly killing another person, just an animal. Maybe it's because my mother was a simple, but beautiful tawny owl, or maybe it was because my father is a tiger, but I was unwilling to give up so easily when nothing had truly been done for his mind. So, one day, before Bilbo was fed, a friend and I walked down this corridor, and we shifted into the Black Panther you see before you, and a magnificent white tiger, and we opened the door. Bilbo sat there for a few minutes as I approached, my friend ready to attack and interfere if he tried anything. As I rubbed my muzzle against his, he returned the caress, as he did when my friend nuzzled him as well. He then followed us outside and we hunted and played for a long time, until we were set upon by Wargs and their riders; like a switch had been thrown, Bilbo turned back into a snarling beast. The three of us stood our ground, until our friend was pinned by a large Warg, and my paw was broken. An Orc was about to take my head clean off with a large battle axe, when he was jumped and crushed by an enormous silver wolf, bigger than a normal wolf, and yet not as large as a Warg. The wolf was able to help us, and as he cleaned my paw, I realized the wolf was Bilbo; his shift had changed to save us. Unfortunately, our kin could not see this, and one archer shot him with two arrows; he still has the scars. After this new transformation, he was locked in here." Arwen then showed Thorin the room next door, and as bad as the tiger room was, the wolf/Warg room was at least twice as worst; everything was broken beyond repair, the few sticks that could be identified as furniture not good for anything but kindling now.

"I was finally able to convince them that Bilbo needed to be allowed to run free or he would never gain control; like a child that has too much energy, they must be allowed to wear it off or it will become destructive energy. My friend and I were put in charge of his training and, one day when we went to wake him for the day's training, we found him in the form of a Hobbit, but we were shocked to find out he had changed back during the night, and was scared half out of his mind because all he saw was destruction by his own hand."

"He was stuck looking at all this all night?"

"Yes, he had been locked in to ensure everyone's safety and no one ever comes down this way unless you were his feeder, my friend, or myself. He was locked in with his own viciousness all night; it's why he is so willing to believe what the other Hobbits say about him being a monster, he really believes it because he's seen what he can do. When he came back from training with Radagast, he was more confident and strong, but there was always a fear that the animal would take over and he would need to be put down. After that, we taught him how to spar, and he found a safe way to vent his energy, though, with no one really to talk to about how he felt in the Shire, the two personalities somewhat merged. You could not have asked for a more loyal person to join you for your quest, yes I know about it, no I will not tell my father, but you also could not have asked for a more suicidal person to join it. He will not go back to the Shire if you tell him he is no longer welcome on your quest, nor will he stay here, where there are still those who believe him more beast than man; he will probably walk straight into an Orc's den, kill as many as he can, just so he can die with some semblance of honor, as his code will not allow him to take his own life. And what is probably the saddest thing of all, it that the only ones who will mourn his passing are myself, the one that Bilbo saved that day, Radagast, my father, Mithrandir, maybe a grand total of five Hobbits, and your nephew, Kili, who wants to impress you, but all you see is your mountain and your heir." Arwen then left before Thorin could say anything. He left the room, and wandered for a bit, until he came across a balcony, that had a sleeping hyena, a grey fox, an elk, a moose, with a pika on its head nestled between his great antlers, a cheetah all curled around a tiger, who was conversing with a lion.

"I want you to know Fili; it was never my intention for this to happen, I had intended only to come along on this journey to do what I signed up to do; and that is be a burglar. I don't know where this loyalty of your brother's is coming from, but when the dawn breaks, I'm going to tell him to stay with you and your uncle." Bilbo said, and Thorin could tell he was speaking truthfully.

"That may be a contradiction in terms, one that I myself may face if Kili decides to stay with you."

"What do you mean?"

"I promised my mother on her deathbed that I would always be there for Kili, and anyhow, I don't think I could stand to be apart from him. But once he has made up his mind on something, he sticks to it; if he wants to stay with you, he'll stay. But for me, I also gave my word that I would help Thorin reclaim Erebor; I fear that to honor one promise is to break another!"

"Fili, I will do my best to convince Kili that his place is with you and the company, but you must always remember that you cannot live your life to please others. If you spend your whole life pleasing others, you'll find that your life has never been your own. When I returned to the Shire, many were scared witless of me, so I tried to put them at ease by acting like them. It didn't work, they still called me a monster and an abomination that should have been forced out of the Shire, only the Thain's love of my mother stopped them. Well, it took me all of six months to realize that no matter what I did, they would always hate me so; I stopped trying to please them, and used my curse to protect the Shire. That still didn't endear me to them, but I found the Hobbitlings found my shifts fascinating, and so, when their parents weren't watching, they would ask me to shift so they could see them." Fili still looked unsure so Bilbo finished with

"The only thing I have left to tell you is that, to be even remotely content, you must listen to your heart; it always seems to know just where you're supposed to be and when. If you want, you can sleep next to your brother in this; the weirdest cuddle puddle of a pack there ever was." Fili let out a chuckle at that and nuzzled into Kili, and nuzzled Bilbo once before going to sleep. Bilbo looked around the 'cuddle puddle' with sad eyes, knowing that there was going to be repercussions when they all woke up, but settled in for sleep nonetheless.

A/N: Well, I think that's enough for one chapter, review and tell me what you think about the chapter and the story in general. Also, Arwen does have a weapon to show Bilbo, you'll find out what it is next chapter.


	5. Bilbo Talks to Some Dwarves

A/N: I’ve been wondering, do you all like the idea of Dwalin’s secondary shift being a gorilla? I had to think of a second shift for him, and that was the only animal I could think of at the time, particularly because of my sister telling me while we were watching Rise of the Planet of the Apes of a gorilla’s raw destructive power, but it’s been nagging at me, I guess mostly because I’m not a fan of primates. Any ideas or do you think Dwalin would be a bear and a gorilla? Maybe some species of bovine like a wildebeest or Cape buffalo; before you say anything, in Africa, the Cape buffalo is also known as the Black Death, lions often think twice before going after one (mainly because it could kill them), and can kill you in three minutes if it thinks you’re a threat to the herd. Sometimes, it will even continue to crush you after you’re dead just to make sure you’re dead; as the program said, just as an elephant never forgets, a Cape buffalo never forgives (remind you of anyone?). Maybe even a warthog; they’ve been known to have bad tempers.

Chapter 5

When Bilbo woke up the next day, he admitted to feeling a little smothered by everybody curled around him, but he couldn’t deny that it did feel somewhat nice; he hadn’t felt this kind of warmth in a long time. Shaking his head, he tried to dispel those thoughts; he would be ‘asked’ to leave the company soon enough, he shouldn’t get attached to any of them. When his stomach growled, he got up and went into the forest to hunt and get a drink. He brought down a deer easily and, after saying his prayer, ate the whole carcass; he didn’t know when he’d be allowed to hunt for his food again, and for him, it always felt better hunting for himself. He would hunt for the Dwarves after he had taken a drink so he went down to the river and proceeded to drink. It was about midway that he sensed Thorin approach him, so he became very cautious; he did not want to fight, but if Thorin attacked first, he would defend himself.

“Peace, I do not wish to fight you, I only wish to talk.” Thorin said as he came into view, in Dwarf form, so as not to look too threatening, but Bilbo could see the sword Arwen had told him was called Orcrist hanging from his belt.

“Would it make you feel better if I changed back?”

“If you feel more comfortable like this, I don’t mind talking to you this way; tigers never attack from the front.”

“You forget however, I am a tiger only in body; I am also a jaguar, a leopard, a cougar, a bit of an ocelot, and I have the instincts of the wolf as well, those animals don’t mind attacking from the front.”

“So the wolf and tiger count as one shift then, not two?”

“Yes; like every other Hobbit, I am categorized as having three shifts, though on an exceedingly rare occasion, a fourth shift will appear, though it is mostly of the Took and Brandybuck lines that it appears.”

“And what kind of shift is that?”

“A reptilian one; one that is hated on the same level as my own shifts.” Thorin almost asked why it was hated, until he remembered the more common shifts around the Shire; they would indeed be a very good meal for most reptiles.

“Do you have a reptilian shift?”

“I don’t think so; the reptilian shift, unlike the other shifts, does not appear at birth, but in times of great danger, whether to attack or to flee. If it didn’t appear when my parents were killed, or when Arwen was in danger, I don’t think it will appear now. Now, what did you want, as if I had to ask?”

“I was going to ask you to leave the company, but I may have been rash in my judgment of you, especially since it was I who bit Kili last night, if you can give me your word that you can control the Warg, you may stay.”

“I will stay, because I can control my shifts, and because I think Kili can be like a dog with a bone; once he has made up his mind on something, he will not let it go. Something I gathered from Fili last night when we were talking, as I’m sure you’re aware.”

“How did you know I was there?”

“Same way I knew you knew about how Arwen had almost been killed by an Orc and how I gained my wolf/Warg shift; the musk from those rooms is one I don’t think I could ever forget and I could smell the same musk as those rooms on you as you eavesdropped on our conversation. A few words of caution; if you don’t want someone to know you’re listening to them, keep upwind of them.” Thorin growled at his own stupidity; of course he could smell him; everyone knew how sharp a wolf’s senses were.

“Now, if you don’t mind, I need to hunt for the company, in case the Elves decide to be cheeky again and serve only vegetables for breakfast; I don’t think they would like that.”

“How did you know about that?”

“Just consider Arwen my eyes and ears as long as we’re here.” Bilbo said before he took off and Thorin had to silently admit, Bilbo was fast and, like all tigers, he looked quite majestic.

“I’ll be sure to keep that in mind.” Thorin then left the Hobbit to his hunt, wondering about certain things, especially, for some strange reason, his beloved sister.

After Breakfast

“Bilbo, I don’t know how to thank you enough for that fine breakfast; if we had to eat those vegetables again, I think Ori would have died!” Bofur said and the others nodded in agreement and laughed. Bilbo was still in tiger shift, though he was trying to get Kili to stop leaning on him like he was ready to take a nap. Bilbo shifted back however as Arwen showed up holding a very strange looking set of weapons; it looked like a pair of hooks that had handles near the straight ends.

“Bilbo, I trust you are feeling better today?”

“Much better, Lady Arwen, one could barely tell I was injured yesterday, near the brink of death, if one is to believe the dramatics of Dwarflings.” A few grumbled at that comment; it wasn’t dramatics if it was true, and, if Bilbo hadn’t been a wizard, it was unlikely he would have survived all that he went through.

“Good, then you are willing and able to see this new weapon I found for you?”

“Oh, you mean that wasn’t just a story you told your father to try and help me stay out of trouble?” Bilbo asked with a smirk and she laughed.

“No, I really found something for you and I thought you might be able to use it; you wrote me in your last letter that, though you are a skilled long distanced weaponry warrior, you didn’t like how you were basically slowly disarming yourself, so I looked for more short distanced weapons for you, though this one can also be a mid-range weapon.”

“Radagast gave me one as well, a war hammer that was quite effective against one of the Orcs yesterday.”

“I can imagine, well, what I have is a little more your style; they’re called twin hooks and are practically three weapons in one.” Arwen showed the weapons that she had had made for herself and another for Bilbo’s stature as soon as she had seen a wandering Elf with them and how they had worked. Bilbo seemed intensely interested in them, as he gently dislodged Kili from his resting place to come see them. He gently took them from her, trying not to cut himself on the blades.

“How do they work?” Bilbo asked and Arwen led him to an open field where they could practice the weapons without hurting anyone but themselves. Of course, Kili, and the others that had been with Bilbo were hardly about to leave their burglar with an Elf, though Arwen wasn’t too bad, considering her heritage. Seeing as how he was quite polite to her (considering how they had heard him yell at a particularly rude male Elf that he was not an infant and if he did not leave him alone, he would find Bilbo’s claymore up his ass), they resolved to at least be courteous to her as well; after all, she had tried to keep their burglar out of too much trouble with her father, and had seemed to somehow convince Thorin that Bilbo was only dangerous to the Orcs and Wargs they came across.

“Now, as you can see, the twin hooks are shaped like a shepherd’s hook, and there are four main components to the weapon; the back, which is used like traditional swords, the hook, which is used for slashing, as well as catching weapons and tripping opponents, the end of the hilt, which are shaped into daggers, and finally, the crescent guard, which is used for blocking and slashing. Now, they’re mainly a slashing weapon, though of course the dagger ends can be used for stabbing, also, you can hook the two swords together, while swinging one, causing the dagger of the second sword to slash the opponent, thus becoming a mid-range weapon.” Arwen demonstrated all that she talked about, and even the Dwarves had to admit, it was indeed a handy weapon.

“Ingenious.” Bilbo said as he looked at his new weapons.

“Indeed, who knows? They may just replace the claymore as your favourite weapon. Now, we are both going to practice with this weapon until we get good enough that we don’t cut our fingers off while spinning.” Bilbo doubted any weapon could replace the claymore as his favourite weapon, but promised to at least learn how to use the hooks; he had complained to her that the problem with being as archer was, no matter how good you were, eventually you ran out of arrows, and then he would need every advantage he could get. Not to mention, there were times when you just needed to have short and mid-range weapons as well as long range, such as yesterday, when the Orc with the intention of slitting his throat had managed to sneak up behind him. Bilbo did his best to copy Arwen's movements, but unlike the claymore, which required one smooth motion, for the twin hooks to be effective to maximum capacity, they required the user to be completely fluid, while being able to change your style in the single beat of a heart, not to mention they were far more effective if both were used. By the time lunch rolled around, Bilbo felt if nothing else, he could use them to block. Arwen promised the Dwarves that they would not be subjugated to green food again, so they all got ready to follow her, though Bombur noticed Bilbo seemed more intent on mastering his weapon than eating.

“Master Baggins, while I commend you for your tenacity, you will not do any of us any good if you allow yourself to become weak with hunger.”

“Master Bombur, I ate a full stag for breakfast before bringing you all a stag for your breakfast.”

“Well, that should have helped you clear up the hunger from the week, when you barely ate, but I doubt that it did much else.” Bilbo stilled as Bombur said this; he thought he had been careful and inconspicuous.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Master Baggins – Bilbo - I’ve seen the way you eat; you eat maybe once a day, and I guess been putting some kind of spell on your second meal so that you can eat it later, or you pretend to eat it then pass it off to one of the others, mostly either me or the young ones.” Bilbo wandered how he could get out of this conversation, but figured his best chance of nobody else finding out would be to confess to Bombur and pray he didn’t tell anyone else.

“Bombur, I… may I confide something in you?”

“You can, and I swear on my brother’s life, as well as my cousin, I shall tell none what you tell me.”

“Not even Gandalf knows this; at least, I don’t think he does seeing as how he’s never brought it up. But, I find myself unable to eat at regular intervals at home because it always reminds me of my parents, but I still manage at least three meals a day, sometimes four on a particularly good day. But, while we’re out here, I find my stomach unable to truly keep food down because-” Bilbo paused and Bombur had a bad feeling about what the Hobbit was going to say, but Bombur felt that if he could get it off of his chest, he may be able to help the poor lad. So, Bombur walked over to Bilbo, gently put his hand on the Hobbits shoulder, and asked

“Because it was out here, on the road, and especially near Rivendell that your ma and da were killed so brutally, on your birthday, while you were having a picnic?” Bilbo gave out a minute sob that he disguised as a sniff, one that Bombur could only hear because he was so close to the poor little Hobbit.

“Bilbo, I understand that such a thing could be hard, but starving yourself won’t do anyone any good. If we’re attacked by Orcs, or Wargs, or Goblins, and there is a very high possibility that we will be attacked again before this quest is done, then we all need to be as strong as possible.” Bilbo sighed and nodded; suddenly ashamed he had let weakness shine through.

“I’m sorry for burdening you with this; my weakness is no one’s problem but my own.”

“I don’t think it’s a weakness to miss your parents, and cry when the pain gets too bad, nor is it truly a weakness for you to have trouble digesting food when you think about it. If anything, I would think there was something wrong with you if you didn’t cry for them. Sometimes, Bofur and I still cry over the loss of our parents, and they died of natural causes almost eighty years ago; they weren’t cut down by Orcs like yours were.”

“Did your parents go quickly?”

“It seemed like it, but it took them a week to die, it was relatively painless, if you exclude the fever, and they died together, which I know made them happy.”

“My parents somewhat died together, it was quick, but my father was skewered and my mother’s skull crushed. I imagine that was rather painful. A secret I would like to tell you is that the Orcs actually took three people from me that day; my father, my mother, and my unborn sister, they had been trying for months to give me a little sibling, and they had finally managed it, only for the Orcs to take it all away.”

“In that case, I’m surprised you didn’t go gallivanting off, looking for Orcs to kill. Come on now, come and at least try and get a few mouthfuls in, though mind you don’t put anything in your mouth while Bofur’s talking, or you’ll spit the food out again.” Bombur would keep his word and not say anything, it wasn’t his place anyway, but he would try and make sure the Hobbit at least had a few mouthfuls of his second, and when they were lucky a third, meal, even if he couldn’t get it all down. He didn’t know why and he didn’t try to understand it, but it didn’t sit right with him to let the Hobbit suffer in silence for something he couldn’t have prevented anyhow. He wondered though if anyone besides him had noticed how the similarities between their leader and their burglar kept piling up. The Hobbit may think he was weak for letting the past cloud his mind and occasionally hurt his body, but Thorin let Moria, Smaug, Thranduil, and worst of all, the gold sickness of King Thror to cloud his own mind. Without saying anything directly, maybe he could talk Bofur and Bifur into helping the Hobbit realize his real potential before this quest was done, and he may be able to get Nori and Ori to help as well, so long as Bofur and Nori refrained from making goo-goo eyes at each other until Bilbo got over his issues and let them help him. Then they could go off and shag each other’s brains out in the forest for all he cared, just so long as he didn’t have to listen to it. After lunch, in which Bilbo managed to at least eat a slice of bread with honey on it and some berries, Bilbo and Arwen went back to practicing with their hooks, and Bombur discreetly got the attention of his brother, cousin, the two Ri brothers, and the young princes.

“Without betraying a confidence, I would like it if everyone kept an eye on the burglar especially at meal times and for a little bit afterwards.”

“Why is that Master Bombur?” Fili asked and Bombur tried to shrug nonchalantly.

“He just seems a little thin, I want to make sure he’s eating enough; it is one of my duties after all.”

“That might be hard to keep a watch on though; he told me in the Shire he eats less than other Hobbits do.”

“Aye, that may be true, but one does not become a good burglar without learning to hide a few things.”

“Such as what?” Bofur asked and Bombur had to stop himself from banging his brother over the head with his ladle.

“Oh, this and that; while Bilbo could not hide his hatred of Orcs and Wargs, had it not been for Gandalf telling us his story, we would never have known why; Bilbo is a wizard, yet, had it not been for fear that the company would perish against the Trolls, we would have never found out. We must also not forget that Bilbo losing his parents is the reason he became a warrior; it’s not so hard to believe that our burglar could very well suffer some sort of mental scars that could be presenting some troubles that we wouldn’t notice unless we were looking for them, such as his generous offer to give someone else his share of a meal.” Finally, it appeared the Ri brothers were catching on.

“You’re thinking that maybe being out here it causing problems for the Hobbit?” Nori asked, but Fili and Kili were still in the dark.

“What problems? He was fine yesterday against the Orcs and Wargs, and he doesn’t seem to have any trouble sleeping on the ground, though I don’t think he enjoyed the ponies much.” Fili said, but for once, Kili was starting to see things before his brother didn’t; it was true, Bilbo didn’t really have problems with any of those things, he adapted quickly, but Bombur would have no need to be concerned with those things, as they weren’t part of his duties.

“You think Bilbo has an eating-”

“As I said, we should just keep an eye on him; he’s our smallest warrior, and he did save us from the Orcs after all, it wouldn’t be fair not to keep an eye on him. Also, whenever we stop, he doesn’t seem to have much to do beyond gathering firewood and help me prepare the meals; it would do him a world of good if some of us could find some other things to occupy his time, which could potentially give him too much time to dwell on darker thoughts.” As Bombur finished, even Fili and Bofur got a feeling they knew what he was trying to say, and each of them tried to think of something they could teach their burglar to keep his mind off of less pleasant things.

“Bilbo, are you alright?!” Arwen suddenly asked as Bilbo held his hand close to his body. The Dwarves suddenly jumped up and went running over to the two.

“It’s alright, I’m alright; I just caught my hand on one of the hooks.” Bilbo said as Ori came over with his medicine pack. He dug into it and pulled out two green leaves that had pale oranges lines and placed them on the wound.

“The sap from these will make sure no infection sets in; thanks to my magic, I heal faster than others but it’s best to reduce chances of any kind of infection or nerve damage, after all, the hook went into my flesh then pulled so, if I’m not careful, some nerve damage could happen.” Bilbo explained as he took some gauze to wrap around the leaves and hold them to the wound.

“Just one of you be sure to remind me to take these off by tonight or I’ll develop a bad rash; the leaf’s sap is good for keeping infection out of an open wound, but if left on closed skin, it can cause a bad rash that I don’t have the remedy to right now.” Bilbo went on to say and the Dwarves all made a mental note to remind Bilbo about his hand.

“Bilbo, why don’t you take a bit of a break, let your hand mend before continuing?” Arwen suggested and Bilbo nodded before going to another field, kindly asking his Dwarf entourage to give him some alone time as he wandered around. Bilbo debated going to the library, which he knew to be grand, over practicing with his targe and katar or spear. He decided to practice for a while as, having been told to rest; no one would think to look for him practicing (except those who knew him of course). Besides which, it would be good practice; his opponent would not allow him rest if his hand was damaged in battle. So he found another, more secluded area to practice, and decided to try a combo of targe, dagger, and war hammer. He used a bit of magic to form some rocks roughly into the build and shape of an Orc opponent and was able to give it a semblance of life so that it could be an opponent that could fight back, and proceeded to attack it, though he quickly became frustrated at how easy the stupid thing was to beat; Orcs may be stupid, but they fought to the death for a love of carnage.

“Fighting against that thing seems to be something worthy of an amateur, not you.” Bilbo suddenly backed away as Dwalin made his presence known.

“Easy Hobbit, I’m not going to hurt ya, I just came to make sure ya were alright. I heard Ori telling Dori and Oin about your training exercise with the Elf.”

“Sorry Master Dwalin it’s just my instincts tell me to weary of you because, if there’s anyone who could hurt me, it’s you. Especially because I’m holding two weapons that I haven’t had the time to practice with yet, so the only experienced weapon I’m holding is my targe.” Bilbo said and Dwalin nodded.

“Well, I came to make sure ya were alright, though if ya want a sparring partner, I may be able to help ya learn how to use that hammer of yours.”

“You’re kidding right? Your hammers could smash mine in an instant with no problems.”

“Aye, that would happen in a fight, though yours has an advantage that mine don’t.”

“What’s that?”

“Yours can be easily concealed, mine cannot.”

“I suppose there is that.”

“Now, you and I are going to go through the motions of a hammer fight so you can get used to it, though ya did very well yesterday, when ya slammed the sharp end into the Orc’s skull, but that’s obviously not the only way to go about it.” Bilbo watched as Dwalin showed him the ways the hammer could be used, and then he got an idea.

“Master Dwalin, your hammers probably could do this with ease, but do you think mine could cause skull fractures even if my opponent was wearing a helmet?” Dwalin thought it over as he examined Bilbo’s hammer.

“Well, if you hit them smack in the face, you’d probably cause some fractures, and if you could get enough momentum, you may be able to disorient them from behind. Too bad we can’t really practice. How you getting along with that dagger of yours?”

“Not too bad, my mother certainly knew what she was doing when she had the blade made; it can rip through flesh easily, is easily concealed, and seems quite strong, if I do say so.”

“And how are ya doin’ with the Elf blade?” Dwalin asked only for Bilbo to scoff.

“The only kind of blade that thing is, is a letter opener; I tried practicing with it, and I can’t get the hang of it.” Dwalin thought for a moment about Bilbo’s weapons, and believed he figured out the problem, but had to be sure.

“Lay out all your weapons, including the hooks, the pocket knife, the dagger and, most importantly, your ‘letter opener’.” Bilbo looked at him strangely, but complied and spread out all three chakram, his spear, his claymore, laid his targe down, as well his dagger, his pocket knife, his bow with one of his arrows, his set of katars, his new hooks, and finally, his ‘letter opener’.

“It’s good to see that you’re as well armed as any Dwarf, but I think the reason you’re having so much trouble is because, for the first time, part obviously from your bow, you have a weapon that’s perfectly suited for your size.”

“What do you mean? All my weapons were made to compensate for my stature.”

“That’s the problem; they may be smaller than the original version of the weapons, but the Elf blade is perfectly suited to your size. You’ve always had to use extra strength to wield your claymore because it was larger than what your size needed; with the Elf blade, you don’t have to use that strength, so you don’t know how to handle it.” Bilbo thought about it, and he had to admit it made sense.

“I suppose you’re right, I just like using the claymore a bit more.” Bilbo couldn’t help but make a somewhat apologetic face as he stated the truth.

“No need to apologize; every warrior has a preferred weapon, take my brother for example; he has a battle axe like me, but lately he prefers to use his sword. All the company asks of ya is that ya keep the letter opener with ya in case ya need an extra sword or weapon. Now, if ya want lessons to help with the blade, I suggest ya see Balin or maybe Fili or Kili, they’re better with swords than me.” Bilbo nodded but could feel a slight headache coming on.

“Perhaps I will later, but I think I’ll spend sometime in the library right now.”

“As ya will Hobbit, though don’t be surprised if Ori or Balin join ya, they like the musty old tomes for some reason.” Bilbo smirked at the slight disdain before heading to the library. One thing that had never changed about Bilbo, apart from a love of gardening, was his love for books, and one of the first things he had done after his mind had been fully restored, was find the library and a good book to read. Doing the same now, Bilbo read until he felt Lord Elrond come into the room.

“Bilbo, I was wondering if you could tell me what a map of Erebor is doing with Gandalf and thirteen Dwarves?” Elrond asked and Bilbo silently wished that someone had told him what Thorin, Balin and Gandalf had told Elrond, but decided to play it all by ear and take a stab at what he thought Gandalf would say to keep Elrond off the trail until it was deciphered.

“I wouldn’t really know; I just came along because Gandalf wanted someone he could trust to come with him and thirteen stubborn Dwarves. I had written to Arwen recently, asking her about close range weapons that would work with my stature. Gandalf knew this and so brought me along. Though I thought I heard something about it being an academic venture, which is another reason he brought me along; neither of us had no way of knowing we would be attacked by Orcs and Wargs.”

“And yet, on an academic venture, you come armed as if you are preparing for war.” Elrond pressed and Bilbo was floundering before he said

“It may be peaceful times, but as long as Orcs are in existence, there is no harm in being prepared, and you know that I would bring all my weapons if I go as much as a mile outside of Bree; I trust no one with my safety but myself.”

“I find myself also wondering why someone who all but despises the other races would willingly travel with Dwarves.”

“I have no reason to hate Dwarves; they were nowhere near Rivendell the day my parents were killed, so why should I hate them?”

“Whether you hate them or not, they seem rather fond of you; I saw them curled around you in sleep last night, you hunted for them this morning, and they seemed rather worried when you hurt your hand an hour or so ago.”

“Perfectly reasonable; I got hurt protecting some of them yesterday, so they stayed near me while I slept, and you know I prefer to sleep on balconies while I’m here instead of rooms, you know what that reminds me of. Of course I hunted for them this morning; Dwarves prefer to eat meat rather than a surplus of vegetables, which wasn’t nice to tease them over last night when they were all quite hungry. Finally, they knew of my past and my dislike of Elves so, once again keeping in mind how I protected them, they stayed with me while I practiced my new weapon and became concerned when I hurt myself, which they would have done even if Arwen had been the one who was hurt.”

“Bilbo, I know what I did yesterday seemed harsh, but I worry about you losing control; my daughter and I don’t want to lose you, not only are you her friend, she sees you as one of her staunchest allies, and so do I. I hope that, no matter what the reason the Dwarves have for possessing that map, when all is said and done, I hope you will at least stay here if you do not wish to return to the Shire. If you feel a need to kill Orcs that can easily be fulfilled by protecting these borders and your back can be watched-”

“By those who once called me an uncontrollable monster that should be put down like a mad dog?” Bilbo asked and before Elrond could reply, Balin and Ori came in.

“Ah, you were right indeed Ori; this is indeed the right route to the library, and look! We have even found our travelling companion!”

“Bilbo, I would like to finish this conversation later, Master Dwarves.” Elrond said with a nod of his head before taking his leave. Ori immediately ran over and seemed to be seeing if Bilbo was physically alright, as if Elrond would hurt Bilbo.

“Are you alright? I was coming to see the library, when I saw the two of you talking and you looked very nervous indeed, so I ran and found Mr. Balin; in hopes he could think of something to help you!” Ori said very quickly and it took Bilbo a moment to translate it.

“I’m fine Ori, really; I was nervous because Lord Elrond was asking me about the company’s interest in the map and I didn’t know what the rest of you had told him.”

“Some people should learn to mind their own business.” Balin mumbled as Ori went to try and find an interesting book to read, now that they were in the library.

“Well, one could hardly blame him; the whole thing does seem highly suspicious from an outsider’s point of view, and besides which, anything involving the mere whisper of a dragon, should not be taken lightly. He and the others fought hard against the Dark Lord Sauron for a peace that cost Gondor her king, many their brothers and fathers, and Lord Elrond lost many of his kin that day, and it may all be for naught, if it’s true that that cursed ring may still be in existence.”

“Yes, but the dragon has nothing to do with that.” Ori said as he came back over with a book that he gave to Bilbo before shifting into his pika shift, and Bilbo realized he meant to sit on Bilbo’s shoulder as he read the book. Normally, Bilbo would allow no such thing, he had already been reading a book after all, and did not need another so soon. But he was tired from all the discussions today, so he let out a small sigh before picking Ori up.

“I’ve often found that one seemingly unimportant incident can lead to such great ramifications as to change the fate of many.” Balin gave him a strange look before going to find a book for himself. As the week wore on, Bilbo kept practicing with his hooks, and by the time the right moon was in position, Bilbo was decent enough that, if faced with Orcs and Wargs, he would be willing to use the blades any way he could. To his surprise, Bifur and Bofur had decided to teach him certain skills, and Bilbo had finally taught Kili about proper shooting; his arrow would have killed the Troll on its own, had the Troll not already been so close to death. Bilbo knew that Kili had used his instincts to guide that arrow, but had been trying to aim, and that was his downfall, and Bilbo was slowly weaning him away from the way he had been taught. Back to Bifur and Bofur however, they seemed to have developed a hobby of thinking up new things for him to do; currently, Bofur was teaching Bilbo how to use his father’s knife to make little wood carvings, and strangest of strange, Bifur had taken to teaching him Iglishmêk, which Bilbo knew to be a big deal, but Bofur and Bombur simply said it would be good for him to know, so that they could talk to him without Men and Elves eavesdropping on them. Bilbo was actually getting quite good at it, and thanks to it, he was picking up bits of Khuzdul as well.

“Bilbo, Lord Elrond will be reading the map in about a half hour, Gandalf wants you with us when he does.” Balin announced as Bilbo was training with his hooks against Fili and Kili, so he slung them on his back and said he would be back soon.

“You appear to be rather fond of them.” Balin said once they out of ear shot of the princes.

“Despite what image I may have presented on the road during their questions, I am rather fond of children, though I know those two technically aren’t children.”

“Thorin often wishes that they were a bit more responsible, and acted a bit more like heirs to the line of Durin.”

“Well, the matter of the ponies aside, I think they’re quite responsible and besides which, they should be allowed to retain some of the youthfulness before the weight of crowns begins to bother them.” Balin would have replied, had they not come across Thorin, Gandalf and Elrond at that moment. Elrond led them to a large formation of quartz that had been made smooth at the top. As he laid the map on the quartz and the moon shone through the waterfall, the quartz lit up and words appeared on the map where there weren’t before.

“‘Stand by the grey stone when the thrush knocks and the setting sun on the last light of Durin’s day will shine upon the key hole.’”

“Durin’s day? I’m not familiar with the Dwarf calendar, which day is that?” Bilbo asked and Balin was about to reply when Gandalf said

“It’s the start of the Dwarves new year, when the last moon of autumn and the first sun of winter appear in the sky together.” Bilbo nodded, then looked at Thorin who suddenly looked quite worried; not that he blamed him; his coat was already starting to go from strawberry blond to orange in his tiger shift, and after that, it would be as white as the snow on the mountains.

“This is ill news; summer is passing, Durin’s day will soon be upon us.”

“We still have time; we have to be standing in exactly the right spot, at exactly the right moment.” Bilbo had been trying to signal to Balin to stop talking but it was too late as Elrond figured out exactly why they had the map.

“So this is your purpose; to enter the mountain?” Bilbo could see Thorin and Balin both nervously glancing at the map, as if Elrond would keep it from them now that he knew its significance. Bilbo decided to put their minds at ease and shifted to his least weasel shift before climbing up to Balin’s shoulder, jumping onto the quartz, neatly folding the map before carefully picking it up with his teeth, then jumping onto Thorin’s shoulder who gratefully took the map.

“Bilbo, you need not have done that.” Elrond said, though he was impressed with how fast Bilbo had been able to move.

“Aren’t you the one who told me it never hurts to be careful?” Bilbo asked, still on Thorin’s shouder.

“Nevertheless, Gandalf, I would have words with you.” Elrond looked very crossed and Bilbo felt a bit sorry that the wizard was probably going to get chewed out over bringing him on a quest like this. Nevertheless, Gandalf left with Elrond, though not before giving a fond look to Bilbo, which Bilbo knew meant ‘get the Dwarves ready to leave at a moment’s notice’.

“Thorin, I’m going to attempt to follow them, I suggest you gather the Dwarves and have them ready to leave should I find out there’s trouble, if you could just walk over to that ledge, I can use the dangling vine to climb and follow them.” Bilbo said and Thorin nodded as he went to the vine, going so far as to bring it down a bit further so Bilbo didn’t have to jump for it since, if he missed, he would have to shift to flight very quickly. Thorin and Balin then went to inform the others to be ready to leave. They walked in silence for a few moments before Balin said

“That was quick thinking on the Hobbit’s part, grabbing the map in a way no one saw coming.”

“Indeed.”

“I also think his flight shift will make an excellent scout that won’t draw anyone’s attention to him; Barn Owls are very common in this area, unlike cheetahs and hippos.”

“They are indeed.”

“Not to mention tigers are fierce fighters and-”

“Balin, I have already told him he is allowed to stay what more do you want?”

“I’m just saying, Gandalf suggested a Hobbit that’s very shifts seem to be for sneaking about unnoticed until it would be too late and excellent fighters in a pinch. All I’m asking is that you give Bilbo a real chance to show you what he can do, and not hold the large wolf against him. Don’t forget; wolves are intelligent and loyal animals, when they are with a pack.” Thorin had to admit; Balin did indeed seem to have a point and resolved to let Bilbo show him what he could do, apart from his weaponry and cunning.

“Not to mention, Fili, Kili, and Ori all seem to adore him, even if he can be a bit of a grouch.”

“Look who’s talking.” Thorin mumbled, though he was still cuffed at the back of the head for his comment. They soon found the others.

“We have to reach Erebor before Durin’s day; we may be cutting it close, but Balin and I believe we can make it. In the meantime, the Hobbit is keeping an eye on our host, as he believes they will try to stop us, so everyone pack up and be ready to leave at a moment’s notice.” Kili looked uncertain for a minute before Thorin followed with

“We are not leaving without the Hobbit Kili; now kindly get your gear ready.” Kili nodded with a smile on his face before quickly gathering his gear, though he noticed Nori and Bofur were the one’s packing up Bilbo’s gear.

“Claymore?”

“Check.”

“Spear?”

“Check.”

“Katars?”

“Double check.”

“Chakram?”

“Triple check.”

“And he had his twin hooks, his dagger, his hammer and his targe with him as you sparred with him?” Bofur asked Fili and he nodded, including holding up Bilbo’s pocket knife, his bow, his quiver full of arrows, and the letter opener, which Bilbo had laid down before sparring with him and Kili.

“We’re all set Thorin.” Thorin nodded as Ori grabbed Bilbo’s med pack.

“Now we just have to wait-” Suddenly a crash was heard, and everyone drew a weapon, only for a weasel to suddenly come into view, running as if the hounds of Mordor were after him.

“Bilbo, what’s wrong?” Balin asked as Dori gently picked him up, checking him over that his little crash hadn’t hurt his little body.

“We gotta get out of here now! On the double!” Bilbo said before gently jumping down and shifting back.

“What is it?” Thorin asked as Bombur and Ori gave Bilbo his packs.

“Saruman has convened a meeting of the White Council; they’re going to stop our quest before we’ve even begun!” That explained the urgency, but not why Bilbo was as white as a sheet or how he was moving like the Dark Lord Sauron was chasing him.

“What has got you so frightened?” Nori asked, figuring he’d be the best one to understand.

“Because Saruman is here!” Nope, Nori still didn’t understand, though was grateful when Dwalin help Bilbo put his bow on his back, attach his quiver to his shoulder and sling his targe over both without crushing them.

“So?” Dwalin asked, once Bilbo had everything.

“So Saruman is trying to kill me!”


	6. Bilbo Has a Misunderstanding

A/N: Someone mentioned in the last chapter that I made it seem like Ori was a kind of medic because he was the one who came running with a med pack when Bilbo's hand was skewered with a hook. While Bilbo could very well teach Ori some basics in first-aid while on this insane quest, what I was referring to was that it was Bilbo's med pack, and Ori was simply bringing it over because the others had forgotten it in their haste to make sure Bilbo was alright. Sorry for any confusion. Also, Khuzdul looks like /this/, because I feel bad that each of the Dwarves has had at least one line each, except for Bifur. Also, if anyone knows where I can find a good Khuzdul dictionary, I'd be very thankful. Finally, for those that don't like Thorin being thrown into Durincest, how would people feel if I made the pairings Thorin/Bilbo and Fili/Kili/Bilbo, you know, the way I've been writing it, Bilbo could easily be a partner to all three Durins, without Thorin actually interacting with their union?

Chapter 6

As soon as the words were out of Bilbo's mouth, it was like somebody lit a fire under the Dwarves feet, and they all started running.

"Why is he trying to kill you?" Oin asked as they left the spot they had been waiting.

"The same reason some of you doubted letting me come on the quest; he doesn't like the idea of a Warg being part of his illustrious little group of wizards and has been subtly trying to convince the White Council to put me down like a mad dog. As a matter of fact, before Arwen helped me find myself again, Saruman had been doing his best to convince the White Council to kill me before I could hurt anyone, thankfully Gandalf and Lord Elrond were on my side, and Lady Galadriel wanted to make sure there really was nothing of my original mind left before they killed me." Before Bilbo could continue, he bumped into Arwen.

"Bilbo! Thank goodness I found you!"

"Well, you're about to lose us; Saruman is here and I don't like the idea of being skewered!"

"I know, so I brought you these to help you get out of here safely. Throwing this plant into an open flame will make you invisible to everyone who isn't caught in the initial smoke, and this plant will make your voices quiet enough that no one can hear you, while still being able to hear each other. They will wear off when you're far enough away into the wild that they can't catch you." Arwen gave Bilbo the two plants, with Bilbo passing the quiet plant to Thorin, who passed it on to the rest of the company, and Bilbo held the invisible plant in his hand. Arwen then did something that surprised the Dwarves and made Bilbo more than a little uncomfortable; she kneeled down and hugged him. Bilbo, unsure of what to do as no one had truly hugged him like this since his parents' deaths, awkwardly patted her back, hoping she'd let go soon. She let go after a moment and said

"Please be careful and come back soon, I didn't go through all the trouble of helping you find yourself just for you to become a roasted tiger." She then stood and left. Bilbo was in shock but had enough sense of mind to throw the invisibility plant into a near-by torch, and the smoke covered them, making them invisible to all but each other. They then proceeded to make their way out of Rivendell.

"You looked about as comfortable being hugged by Arwen as I was talking to her father." Thorin noted and Bilbo could only shrug helplessly before he replied

"Well, ever since my parents deaths, no one has really touched me; everyone in the Shire, save for the children, is deadly afraid of me. The only reason they would get close enough to hug me is so they could stab me. And my few relations and friends who care even a bit about me don't touch me because they think I don't want to be touched."

"And do you?"

"Do I what?"

"Not want to be touched?"

"Truth be told, when I first got back, I wished people weren't so afraid of me that they were unwilling to touch me, now, I'm rather uncomfortable with people being that close to me, 'cause all I see is them getting close enough to stab me."

"Is that why you don't sleep with the others nearby, but rather in a somewhat secluded spot; close enough that, if something attacked, you're close enough to help, but far enough away that you're not touching anyone?"

"That about sums it up, yeah."

"It's going to be hard for us to fight together if we don't trust each other." Thorin noted but Bilbo gave him one of those 'yeah right' looks.

"We seemed to do just fine on the Great East Road." Bilbo then trailed behind to talk with Bifur, Bofur and Bombur.

"At least the two of you don't look ready to tear each other's throats out any more, even if you can't seem to have a civil conversation for more than two minutes." Balin said as he and Dwalin came up on either side of their king.

"He is willing to keep a leash on the Warg, so I have no quarrel with him so long as he remains no threat to this company." Dwalin responded with

"Ya know lad, he is a part of this company, and I think he could be very useful if we gave him the chance." Thorin said nothing and continued walking into a mountain range when he suddenly called to the rest of the company.

"Be on your guard, we're about to step over the edge into the wild. Balin, you know these paths, lead on. Master Baggins, if you could come up here for a moment?" Bilbo, Bofur, Bifur and Bombur were all somewhat confused to this almost polite request as Bilbo moved quickly back to the head of the line.

"You called?"

"Yes, as an owl, I would assume you have better than average eye sight. I wish to know if you are amiable to flying overhead and keeping a sharp eye out for any blockages of any shape or form?" Bilbo was a bit surprised that Thorin would ask this of someone he so obviously didn't trust, but he simply nodded before focusing on the shrinking feeling and took off with a screech towards the skies.

"I hope in the future he warns us before he starts screeching his head off; he could pierce ear drums with that racket!" Dwalin complain but Balin stated he rather liked the noise, especially as it was much better than Dwalin's snoring. The others all laughed very loudly at that comment, so only Fili, Kili and Nori heard Ori say he liked it too; it reminded him of the Blue Mountains, where Barn Owls would sometimes nest. Thorin kept an ear out while they were walking and could hear snips about the others conversations, talking about this and that until they came to a fork in the road.

"The left path is the one we should take; it's faster." However, as Balin finished, they again heard the screech of a Barn Owl as Bilbo came closer and landed on a tree branch.

"Do you have anything to report?" Thorin asked and Bilbo nodded before saying

"Yes, no Wargs that I can see or anything as such, however, the right path is the one you want to take."

"Why is that Master Bilbo? When I came this way before, it was the left path I took."

"I understand that Master Balin, and I mean no disrespect, it's just that my keen eyes have noticed a landside on the left path."

"We'll simply climb over it." Gloin said and some agreed with him, but Balin and the Ur family had a feeling Bilbo wouldn't have called it to their attention if he didn't think thirteen stout Dwarves couldn't climb over a simple landslide.

"And you will lose half a day as well as end up with scrapes and bruises and who knows what else! This land slide is full of sharp rocks that could pierce the hide of a Troll, slippery moss covered slopes not even the most experienced mountain goat could safely cross, and not to mention the whole thing goes on for at least a mile or two and ends in a very large mud puddle that could be mistaken for a swamp! Also, where it seems the most slippery and dangerous, there is a large gap in the mountain wall, one that I personally don't want to think about where it could lead should one of you fall down it. Now, I looked at the other path; it will take an extra twenty minutes because it goes uphill instead of an even strip like the other, but at least it's clear, and it will connect back up with the left path, after the bloody swamp. Now, it's either a safe extra twenty minutes, or an unsafe, possibly lethal, loss of half a day. Your choice, but tigers and wolves aren't really meant for that kind of terrain and neither are weasels, so I would have to fly over it, meaning if any of you got into trouble, I wouldn't be able to help you." Thorin thought over it and asked

"Can you simply not use your magic to clear the path?" Thorin knew he had angered the Hobbit when he puffed up like, well like an angry bird, before gliding down from the branch to Dwalin's shoulder.

"Thorin Oakenshield, I am a Hobbit that has magical properties and am therefore classified as a Wizard, though I do carry a bit of Fae blood from my mother's side, and it is quite possible that that is where I get any magical properties. I am also a damn good fighter that has a penchant for long distance weaponry but I am slowly getting better at mid-range and close range weapons. I also possess three dangerous shifts that have made me a freak amongst my own people, and have given me the ability to sense the darkness in other creatures' hearts. Nowhere in that summation of who I am, am I listed as some sort of plow or, or some common work mule! Do what you want, but I am flying overhead and away from your bullheadedness!" Dwalin frankly wanted to kill Thorin when Bilbo let out another screech before taking off again, though it was almost worth it as some of the others tried to hold in their laughter as their mighty leader, the one who faced down the Pale Orc with nothing more than an oaken branch as a shield, was talked down to by a slightly larger than average Barn Owl.

"We'll take the right path." Balin said and the others moved out, still trying to hold in their laughter. Thorin then noticed Dwalin grinning at him.

"What?"

"I think I could learn to like that spit fire; he'll be sure to keep ya on yur toes, possibly even better than Gandalf."

"He doesn't seem to have respect for anyone but Gandalf and those two Elves." Thorin said as they marched on.

"Ah now, what have ya truly done to earn a warrior like that's respect, whereas he owes his life to the wizard and the two Elves? He's no pushover Thorin; he doesn't give his respect until you've proven something to him."

"And you're such an expert on Hobbits since when?"

"Hobbits? Never. That warrior? Since I took more than five minutes to talk to him and didn't insult him. By the way, next time you insult him when he's in that shift, don't do it when I'm in a position to be a perch to a pissed off goony bird." Thorin couldn't fully deny that he really was rather rude to their burglar, and it seemed you needed to show more than you were a skilled warrior to get Bilbo to trust you. The only one who had not physically done anything to gain his trust was Kili, and Kili soaked up that trust and attention like a sponge. It took him biting Kili to realize that Kili soaked up Bilbo's attention because, ever since Dis died, and even a bit (ok, a lot) before that, Kili was always second for everything, but with the Hobbit, he was finally the first for something.

Kili had always been the second born, the second heir, the second shown how to do something, like he was nothing more than a spare. When Kili had had difficulties learning the way of the sword, and had started experimenting with a bow, Thorin had been rather harsh, saying only Elves and cowardly Men used bows, real Dwarves used swords, hammers and axes. Kili had been devastated, and lost all drive at learning any kind of weapon. It was not until a week later that Thorin learned, while getting a good thrashing from Dis, that Kili had been teased mercilessly by the other Dwarves for his Elf-like appearance, and Thorin had practically confirmed it all by basically saying Kili wasn't a real Dwarf. After that, Dis had personally taken over her youngest son's training; her preferred weapon of course had been an axe, but she was competent enough with a bow that her son had managed to learn the basics, and even Dwalin had remarked that archery was for those with keen eyes, keener eyes then he himself had. And now, here was someone who had almost right off the bat told him there was something trustworthy inside of him, and was a strong warrior that used a bow; it was like Kili had found his own Arkenstone.

"Good thing we took Bilbo's advice; I can just see the landslide through the trees, and it looks as bad as he said it did!" Kili suddenly shouted and they all turned to see what they could of the landslide, and they agreed with Kili; they would have been lucky if all they ended up with was scratches and bruises.

"Well, I think I'll be taking the advice of our burglar owl from now on." Gloin said and Oin agreed; they both wanted to see Gimli grow into a fine young Dwarf, and they couldn't very well do that if they were dead. Thorin silently agreed with Gloin, as someone with a birds-eye-view was more reliable than one who could only see and face what was in front of them. As they stopped for a short break, Thorin felt he maybe did owe the small bird an apology, so he managed to signal to him to come down and rest a moment.

"Master Baggins, I feel I did an injustice to you by asking you to clear the way with your abilities; you are right in saying you are no beast of burden."

"Apology accepted, but that's not what got me angry." This confused Thorin and the others greatly.

"Then what made you mad?"

"First of all, that wasn't me mad, that was me ticked; when we were fighting the Orcs, that was me mad and I assure you, you most certainly do not want to see me pissed; you won't like it. Secondly, what made me angry was that I had offered you a safe path, but because I have magic, you wanted me to make your path easier. Magic doesn't make things easier Oakenshield, it can make things a hundred times harder than they need to be; look at when I summoned down the lightning with the Orcs. It took out a mere three Orcs and seven Wargs, and I almost killed myself doing it, so when I went to Ori's aid, I was trying to get my adrenaline down to a manageable level while running as fast as possible, while holding onto my spear and claymore with severely blistered hands, and then I got smashed into a rock because I was too stupid to keep my mind focused on my work, instead letting the pain surge for a moment. While in the Shire, I seldom use my magic because it's draining, and there's no need to. You were capable of climbing the landslide, but you all would have been worse for wear and it would have taken too much time, time we do not have much of, judging by the state of my tiger coat. I could have cleared the path using my magic, but just because I can do something, doesn't mean I should do something." Bilbo then moved away, to talk to Nori and Ori, and Thorin felt he should finally clear the air about something else.

"Fili, Kili, come here." He had let his nephews stew about the Troll incident long enough; it was time for it to be addressed. The boys came over, and looked very nervous, which only got worse when Thorin spoke.

"Regarding the Troll incident, just who was it that decided I should not be informed until Kili was in danger?" Thorin already had an idea, as did everyone else, which is why everyone was thrown for quite the loop when Bilbo suddenly called out

"I'm afraid that that oversight belongs to me and me alone." Fili and Kili regarded Bilbo with eyes the size of saucers as Thorin asked

"What?"

"When I brought them their meal, I had seen evidence that a Mountain Troll had taken the ponies, so I enlisted the boys to help me pull off a plan that would stop the Trolls, and it was my plan that stated you were not to be told until Kili had placed the herbs into the pot. I foolishly thought that I could handle the problem on my own, when I nearly got Kili killed. I know there is no possible way for me to apologize about something like that, but all I can do is offer my apologies for being so arrogant." Since it was rooted deeply in truth, anyone who did not know the Hobbit better than a few days would think Bilbo had told the Valar honest truth. However, even Thorin knew the Hobbit was not arrogant, he was competent in his abilities, but he feared his true power. But Thorin knew why the Hobbit was doing this, and simply said

"Do you have any idea what I would have done to you if Kili had been killed? What I should do because of what your 'arrogance' almost cost me and this company?" A few were worried that Thorin was actually being serious, he sounded so sincere in his anger, even Dwalin was ready to jump in and protect the Hobbit if need be.

"Whatever you choose to do, it is but a tenth of what I deserve."

"Bilbo no! Thorin, it was my idea not to tell you right away! Bilbo wanted to tell you before we even knew that it was a Troll, let alone a trio of Trolls!" Fili frantically said.

"Yes, and it was my idea that Bilbo should handle the situation; Bilbo had to practically threaten us into helping him!" Kili agreed as equally frantically.

"Boys, I don't know why you wish to paint yourselves as cowards, but it was my plan, and therefore, I shall take full blame." Bilbo was very composed, which is how they knew he was lying to save the young princes.

"Thorin, he's only taking the blame because he felt guilty over Kili; he feels guilty because if he had revealed the part about the trap and his flying to safety, Kili would never have revealed himself and put himself in danger! I know this because I talked to him right after the Troll incident, and that is exactly what he told me!" Fili was becoming truly frantic; he couldn't let Bilbo take the blame for something that was solely their fault!

"Fili, it is noble of you to try and protect me but-"

"What is noble Master Baggins is you protecting them when I know your only fault was exactly what Fili said; you not informing them of your trap, and you not taking into account how loyal Kili is to you. I assure you; I will not have them drawn and quartered for their oversight, I only wish to understand why I was not informed sooner." Thorin said and he could tell he had surprised the Hobbit, but Thorin was trying to do as Dwalin and Balin suggested, and give their burglar a chance to prove himself.

"We were afraid to let you know that we had failed so spectacularly in our appointed task."

"I see, next time, just tell me; if not for the burglar's knowledge of plants and foresight, we may have ended up in bigger trouble than what we did. Now, we need not talk any more about it; what's done is done, and I know you two will take your duties more seriously." As they got up to continue the trek to the mountain, Thorin faintly heard Bilbo say

"You boys need to learn to shut up when someone is trying to protect you." They continued to walk on for many days, following Bilbo's directions until they reached the path that would lead them over the Misty Mountains, where they decided to rest for the night. As Bilbo landed, as always when he was done flying for the day, he landed on Bofur's shoulder, who then gently lowered him to the ground so he could shift back.

"You know, I can't remember the last time I was able to fly for so long without worrying about being hit by a stone or, when I get hungry not having to check three times at least that the field mouse I have my eye on isn't another Hobbit in shift." Bofur let out a chuckle as Bombur brought Bilbo his share of the meal.

"It's alright; I ate while I was flying." Bilbo tried to say but Bombur shot him a look that clearly said 'shut up and eat your food'. Bilbo sighed before he started on his meal; at least he was slowly getting better, he actually managed just over half of his dinner before he was done, which pleased those that had been keeping an eye on him, and his eating habits, to no end. Bifur then called him over to a more secluded part of the camp so they could continue with Bilbo's teaching Iglishmêk, hoping, as Bifur and the others did every night, that no one realized what they were doing.

"Balin, how are we on time?" Thorin asked Balin as he settled between his two oldest friends.

"Well my lad, I've been keeping track of how much time we save and lose by taking Bilbo's suggestions and, whereas before, we would have arrived two days before Durin's day, I think we may have gained an extra two, maybe even three days!" Balin replied quite ecstatically.

"This is good news, we can only hope we keep those days as we pass through the mountains; there will be no other paths than the one we take, and our scout will be unable to see any dangers that lurk within the mountain." Thorin said and the other two nodded. Thorin glanced over at the burglar and Bifur, then did a double take as he saw Bifur making signs with his hands, and the burglar copying him; Bifur was teaching their burglar scout Iglishmêk.

"What in Durin's name does he think he's doing?" Thorin growled and Dwalin and Balin looked very worried as Thorin got up and marched over to the two.

"What in Durin's name do you think you're doing?" Thorin growled as Bifur and Bilbo jumped up and Bifur placed himself directly in front of Bilbo, as if trying to protect him.

"/I just thought it would be a good idea to teach the Hobbit wordless communication!/" Bifur said and Bilbo was able to pick up parts of the conversation, but as he had been silently taught with hand gestures, the infliction in some of the spoken words made it harder.

"/You know our language is sacred!/"

"/Which is why I'm not teaching him Khuzdul; I'm teaching him Iglishmêk./" Bifur simply replied but Thorin was nowhere near appeased.

"/An outsider has no right learning our language in any shape or form!/"

"/Listen Thorin, the Hobbit is having trouble with certain things and we're helping keep his mind off of darker thoughts./" Bilbo was beginning to get a bad feeling in his stomach from the words he gathered, so he turned to Bombur, who couldn't even meet his eyes and shouted

"You told them?! You gave me your word you wouldn't tell them and you told them!"

"Bilbo, all I asked was that they watch over you because you let your mind wander to darker thoughts, I swear!"

"How can I possibly believe you when you already broke your word?! How can I possibly even trust you to know if you're telling the truth?! I've had it; I'm bound by the contract, and once I give my word on something, I stick to it! But nowhere in the contract does it say I have to stay here and be around you… you… Dwarves!" Bilbo then shifted back into his owl shift and took off ahead into the mountains, he had given his word and he would stick to it, but he didn't have to sleep so close to them.

"Bilbo!" Nori, Bofur and Kili all shouted but he did not so much as look at them.

"Leave him be, if he doesn't want our company, then I don't see why we should bother." Thorin said and Dwalin moved as fast as Kili's cheetah in order to stop Kili from launching himself at Thorin.

"Thorin, I wasn't going to say it until he trusted all of you, but now that he thinks I betrayed him, I don't think it makes much difference. Being out here has made him have stomach trouble; before we took an interest in his well-being, something you seemed to be doing your level best to ignore, he was lucky if he was able to actually stomach a meal and a half. Tonight, he managed over half of his dinner, which I don't think he even noticed he did, since he was talking to Bofur." Bombur said, and none of the others, even Bofur and Bifur, had ever seen him look so serious.

"Why is he having trouble in the first place? It cannot be connected to the Trolls could it? We would never poison a member of our company!" Dori said and Bombur sadly shook his head.

"I wish it was that simple, but it goes deeper than that; he told me he has trouble eating at home because it reminds him of his parents, but he still manages three to four meals a day. Out here, he's been lucky if he can scarf down one before his hunger builds up and he hunts for a full meal, then the cycle starts again. I think that's because out here, is where his parents were slaughtered during a picnic; he somehow thinks it was his fault as much as the Elves and rangers, so the guilt makes his stomach twist into knots. I even think on a few rare occasions, he has sicked back up whatever he's eaten; it's that bad." The Dwarves all looked shocked at this bit of news.

"I asked some of the other Dwarves to talk and interact with Bilbo so he wouldn't have enough time to think on his darker thoughts and let them twist his stomach into such severe knots. Bofur had been teaching him how to whittle, Fili and Kili would spar with him instead of you or Dwalin when they got bored, Ori would sit and knit with him and was going to ask him to teach him some basic first aid, Nori regaled him of all his brushes with the law and what he learned from each misadventure, as well as giving tips on how to pick pockets and other skills that every thief should know, I would discuss recipes with him, and Bifur was teaching Bilbo Iglishmêk because he figured Bilbo was the kind of person who would work on something until he got it right, leaving no room for darker thought to invade his mind."

"This should have been brought to my attention sooner." Thorin said but it was Ori who gave him a heartbreaking look and simply asked

"Would you have even cared?" After that, the company again seemed divided, and their sleeping arrangement reflected that, though even those who seemed to be sleeping on Thorin's side of the clearing, started thinking of things they could teach or at least talk to the Hobbit about. Even Thorin was thinking of things he could tell the Hobbit about, once he was certain the Hobbit wasn't going to peck his eyes out of course. They awoke the next day and as Bombur made breakfast, the others kept an eye out for an owl, a weasel, or a tiger, even a large silver wolf, hoping Bilbo would come back and eat with them. However, it was only after breakfast was made, dished out, and they started eating that Bilbo came flying back.

"I suggest none of you take too long in eating; a storm is heading this way and it will be quite difficult to move with the ferocity I can sense from it." One would have thought Bilbo was a snowy owl with a voice straight from a snowstorm; it was so icy and cold.

"Master Baggins-" Thorin started, only for Bilbo to cut him off

"I will be waiting for you on the path." Bilbo was about to take off when Oin shouted

"Don't ya want your breakfast? We have a long day ahead of us; you'll be needing your strength."

"I am not hungry and I assure you, I am strong enough." Bilbo almost spat ice with the way his voice was just before he took off, silently this time, as if the screech was a sign of happiness and red hot anger; Dwalin would have preferred that over this icy detachment. Not many of them wanted to eat after that, but knew to at least try and finish their meal if they were to have the strength necessary to climb the Misty Mountain. After they managed to finish their meal, they all proceeded to climb a mountain that actually had quite the dangerous reputation. As the Dwarves walked on, some tried to gain Bilbo's attention, but he refused to so much as look at them, let alone talk to them unless it was to constantly inform Thorin that the storm just seemed to be increasing in ferocity, and was still heading their way, so should Bilbo keep an eye out for any caves that they can wait out the storm in? Thorin agreed with the idea but when he tried to talk to Bilbo, Bilbo simply flew back to where he was, far away from the Dwarves, but close enough to see and pass messages along the line. As the clouds gathered over them though, Thorin had other things to worry about than a Hobbit they had inadvertently upset. The storm seemed to suddenly jump on them, as if the storm clouds were a rabbit or cougar, and they were soon soaked to the bone, but still they kept marching on. Thorin was faintly impressed that Bilbo was still flying in such dangerous weather.

"Bilbo! I suggest you land; your wings will become water logged if you continue flying in this abominable weather!" Balin suddenly shouted to their owl burglar.

"I can't; I would be unable to grasp any kind of leverage on these wet rocks and with no leverage, I dare not shift!"

"Can't you just automatically shift from owl to weasel? I would imagine that such small creatures would be able to stay on this ledge!" Gloin shouted but Bilbo simply shook his head.

"I was never taught how to do it, and this place, where anyone of us could be conceivably killed, is not the place where I want to experiment!"

"Can you not simply cease the storm?!" Thorin shouted and Bilbo again shook his head in the negative.

"For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction; that's a law of nature and I am bound by her rules! If I was to stop a storm here, something horrible could happen somewhere else; at least here, there is a good chance we will come upon a cave where we can wait it out soon!" Bilbo shouted but Thorin replied

"Elsewhere is not our concern!"

"Right, just like the fates of your people were not the concerns of others! Two wrongs don't make a right Thorin, and I will not interrupt a storm that nature seemed to really want to get started just because I'm a little wet, as are the rest of you!" Thorin was about to shout back angrily when Nori asked

"How can you tell nature needed to get this out of her system?"

"The air is beyond electrically charged; it's almost like it's an unnatural storm, the way the air feels in these mountains!"

"Is that even possible?" Dori asked but before Bilbo could reply, Balin replied for him

"Bilbo is right; this is no thunderstorm, it's a thunder battle!" Bilbo turned and was amazed; never before in his travels had he ever seen an actual stone giant!

"Well bless me! Giants! Stone giants!" Bofur shouted and Bilbo felt his heart stop; Bofur was close to the edge, and all it would take was one rock and he would fall to his death, for even a fox was too large for Bilbo to carry in his state; he could barely keep himself up with his wings the way they were.

"Take cover you fool!" Thorin shouted and Bilbo rather wished he could take cover, but there was no place for him to go.

"Bilbo, fly away and come back when the battle is over; it's the only safe option for you!" Bilbo did not like the idea of flying away from his post, but knew that Nori's advice was the only one he could follow, so he started flying away from the battle. He then heard Fili and Kili screaming to each other, and it was as if another horrible flashback, like with Arwen, and that time with the Goblins, was taking over his mind. He watched, helpless, as the mountain split in two, revealing the fact that his companions were actually on the knees of a third stone giant! He watched, helplessly, as brothers were torn from each other, with one half making it to safety and the other still on the giant that seemed doomed to fail. Was this too, his fault? Balin said following Bilbo's advice had given them two extra days at least; by following his advice, had they walked right into this battle? Was Bilbo truly nothing more than an omen and fore bringer of death? He saw the knee of the fallen giant smash into the rock, before falling down to the river below. Bilbo saw before the others even came close that the others were alright, but there was something else that made his blood run cold, and as he strained his wings to get there in time to stop another tragedy, he could hear Bofur ask

"Where's Ori?!" And the others soon realized that Ori was dangling from the side of the mountain! They all scrambled, trying to grab him, Dwalin getting ready to fling himself down the side, when Ori lost his grip and Bilbo suddenly flew in to grab him by his hood.

"Ori, shift! You're too heavy for me to keep us up for long!" Bilbo screeched at Ori, who was trying to focus.

"I'm trying, but I'm so scared!"

"I understand that, but use your fear to shift now!" Bilbo's wings were quickly giving out, so he tried to steer them back over to the Dwarves, to no avail. Bilbo struggled to hold both of them up, and felt his wings getting weaker, making him wish he had at least had a few mouthfuls of breakfast that morning 'Damn my pride! Because of it, Ori and I could very well end up dead!' Bilbo thought as, finally, Bilbo's wings gave out, and the two went sliding down the mountain, following the path of the stone giant.

P.O.V. Change

Thorin watched helplessly as the company's burglar and scribe plummeted to their deaths; Ori's shifts were not meant for mountainous regions, and while Bilbo normally could fly, his wings were soaked and strained from trying to keep the two up. As much as he admired the Hobbit's loyalty, he couldn't help but wish the Hobbit had left the matter to them; now there were two deaths on his head, and he could see Nori and Dori were just itching to blame him. Bofur held Nori and Balin helped Dori stand and walk as they went into a cave that Dwalin found. As they cramped together inside, no one spoke, until they heard an unusual sound, like a mouse sneaking about. They turned as one back to the mouth of the cave, and could not believe their eyes as a weasel suddenly came scurrying in, carrying of all things in its mouth, a pika.

"Bilbo! You're alive, and you still saved Ori!" Kili said the weasel shifted back and gave Ori to Dori.

"Better keep an eye on him; he fainted just after I grabbed him with my mouth and he may be in shock." Bilbo said as Dori and Nori cried over the fact that their little brother was still alive. Thorin was relieved that they were alright, but his anger at himself for having let them fall in the first place, raised its ugly head again, and directed its fury at Bilbo.

"What did you think you were doing?"

"I thought I was saving Ori without any risk to the rest of the company." Bilbo replied coolly, and everyone was suddenly very nervous again.

"Dwalin could have saved him without you getting involved!"

"Ori had already fallen; Dwalin could not reach him without flinging himself off the mountain!"

"Do not speak of things you know nothing about!"

"I know that neither Dwalin nor Dori had a flight shift, so there was raw muscle out! There also wasn't enough room for an elk, let alone a moose or Oliphant, so Bifur, Bombur, Gloin and Oin were all out! Foxes, hyenas and goats don't possess the kind of reach needed, so there is Nori, Bofur and Balin all out! Nor does a cheetah for that matter, but you and I both know that Kili would have flung himself headfirst into that, getting the two of them killed! Lions and wolves may possess the reach, while being relatively small enough to stay on the ledge, but you and Fili didn't have the grip necessary to do it safely! I was the only one who could get in there fast enough and maybe sling him to safety; it may not have worked out that way, but it was one more chance that Ori wouldn't have had with any of you!"

"And you know all this because you observe us, never truly interacting with any of us save for what the others initiate. Because that's all you are, and all you will ever be; an outsider that has no place amongst us." The others all watched as all emotion left Bilbo's face, making him appear as if he had been carved from stone. He then turned sharply on his heel, and went to the back of the cave, but not before signing in Iglishmêk, as well as saying loud and clear to Oin

"Make sure you keep a close watch on Ori, Oin; shock can sometimes lead to bigger problems." The others dispersed and lay down to sleep, with the exception of Bofur, who had the first watch. About an hour later, Bofur was glad that he had watch, as he was the one who found Bilbo trying to sneak out.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"I'm going to fly on ahead, and mark out a trail that you all should be able to follow easily."

"No! You can't leave now; you're part of the company, you're one of us!" Bofur frantically plead, but Bilbo wasn't moved.

"I'm not though, am I? Thorin all but said I shouldn't have come, and he was right; all I am is a bad omen that brings nothing but bad luck. But I gave my word, and I shall stick to it, even if the only safe way for me to help you is from afar."

"Thorin didn't mean what he said; he was just worried and angry over yours and Ori's near death! And you're no bad luck omen! If you ask me, and you should, you are a good luck omen!"

"Oh really? Are you oh so conveniently forgetting how I almost got Kili killed?"

"Are you forgetting you also saved Kili? Or Ori? Twice now? How you saved the map? Saved us? First from the Orcs, and then from Saruman stopping our quest in its tracks? Not to mention how much time you've saved us with your scouting?"

"Did it ever occur to you that it could be thanks to my scouting that we got stuck in that thunder battle that could have gotten every one killed?"

"How in the name of Mahal do you figure that?!" Bofur whispered harshly.

"Balin said we gained two or three days thanks to me; if we hadn't of gained those days, maybe we wouldn't have had to deal with that fight."

"And if we had, maybe that path would no longer have been there!" Bilbo could not deny that, so Bofur softened his voice and features and asked

"Why don't you get some sleep? We'll talk again in the morning, and see if things don't look a bit different. And if you still feel as if you can do more good away from the company than with it, well then I wish you all the luck in the world, I really do." Bofur wanted to give Bilbo a light hug but, knowing it would make him slightly uncomfortable, he settled for a comforting hand on his shoulder and a bright smile, which got brighter as Bilbo nodded. Bofur then happened to glance down at Bilbo's Elf sword.

"What's that?" Bilbo then looked down to the sword and felt his heart stop as he saw the sword glow blue. He then let out a deafening screech that seemed louder than physically possible since it echoed around the cave, trying to wake everybody up and get them out of there. That was just before they all went flying down a trap door. Bilbo kept sliding down the tunnel and finally stopped when he and the others landed on a small ledge, and Bilbo saw stars and a bit of blood as he grazed his head with a rock. As he heard shrieking however, he knew there was no time to lose.

"Goblins!" Thorin and Bilbo called out together as they tried to stand and defend the company that was still dizzy from their tumble. Bilbo and Thorin were unable to fend off the Goblins, and they, along with the rest of the company, were overrun. As the Goblins moved them down the rickety bridge, Bilbo almost lost his footing and fell, had it not been for Bifur and Gloin grabbing him at the last minute. They soon found themselves in front of the Goblin king, and Bilbo became very worried for himself and his companions, especially as they were completely disarmed, except for Bilbo's two knives, which he had managed to hide on himself.

"Who would be so bold as to come armed into my kingdom? Speak!" The Goblin King screamed at them. It was one of the lower Goblins that answered him.

"Dwarves, your malevolence."

"Dwarves?!"

"We found them on the front porch."

"Well don't just stand there, search them! Every crack! Every crevice!" As a Goblin tried to take Oin's hearing trumpet and smash it, Bilbo threw a hard punch and was able to save it before his face was slashed by another Goblin.

"What are you doing in these parts?... Very well, if they will not talk, we'll make them squawk! Bring up the Mangler! Bring up the Bone-Breaker! Start with the youngest!" The king pointed to Ori and Bilbo almost shifted, getting ready to protect him, when Thorin shouted

"WAIT!" He then stepped out and Bilbo could see the fat king's eyes widen in surprise.

"Well, well, well! Look who it is; Thorin, son of Thrain, son of Thror! King Under the Mountain!" The king mockingly bowed and Bilbo felt his anger rise; even when he and Thorin couldn't say one word to each other without also snapping at each other, Bilbo had enough respect for him to not do something like that

"Oh, but I'm forgetting! You don't have a mountain, do you? So, you're nobody really."

"He's a bigger somebody than you!" Bilbo couldn't help but shout and felt several turn their eyes to him.

"Bring forth the one who so stoutly defends their king!" Bilbo was shoved before turning around and slugging the Goblin, knocking him out cold, and walked out like Thorin had, with his head held high. Bilbo watched as the Goblin King became even more surprised, and he was happy to note a touch of fear enter the king's eyes.

"You! The Goblin-slayer from so long ago! What a pretty pair you make! The King without a mountain, and the creature without a race to call home! The King-in-Exile, and the one called, 'Light-Bringer'!" Bilbo knew Thorin was throwing him a questioning glance, but they both had bigger things to worry about.

"I have but one question for you!" The king was about to ask but Bilbo, figuring he was going to die anyway, couldn't help the smart ass remark that flew out of his mouth

"If it's to help you reach those hard to reach places, I'm afraid I must decline." Bilbo heard some of the Dwarves unable to keep their laughter in at the comment, and a side glance told him even Thorin was trying not to smile, though it fell when a Goblin punched him in the jaw, sending him sliding into Thorin, who caught him.

"One more remark like that, and they may just skin you." Thorin whispered and Bilbo replied dazedly

"Beats having to smell them, you have to admit." Thorin almost full on smiled after that, though he hid it when the Goblin King spoke again.

"What is a lone Warg *Bilbo could hear the sniggering amongst the Goblins* doing with a company of Dwarves on my mountain?"

"I couldn't tell you about the Dwarves, but as for me, I've decided to follow in my great-uncle's footsteps and behead a Goblin King, and here your minions have saved me the trouble of having to find you!" Bilbo then let out a roar, that turned into snarling and growling as some Goblins jumped on him. He could distantly hear the Dwarves getting into scuffles as they tried to come to Bilbo's aid, including Thorin, who threw the one who been about to stab Bilbo, into some sort of structure.

"Slash them! Beat them! Kill them all! Cut off the exiled Dwarf's head, along with his pet Warg's!" As Bilbo saw one of the disgusting creatures go to stab Thorin, Bilbo summoned his magic and suddenly, the fire from the torches turned green as they bended to Bilbo's commands and attacked each of the Goblins that had tried to kill his companions. He then had the fire wrap around the company, without touching the ground. As he did this however, he realized he had made a grave mistake.

"Damn it! I can't believe I was so stupid!" Bilbo yelled over the sounds of the flames as the Dwarves gathered their weapons, with Fili, Kili and Gloin passing Bilbo his own.

"What's wrong lad?" Dwalin asked

"When I cast the spell, I forgot to take into account two very important components."

"What components?" Fili asked

"For one; I can't move this fire bubble with us, because Goblin infrastructure is so shoddy, burning just one rope, could bring the entire settlement down on our heads. Secondly, you haven't noticed yet, but the fire is eating up the oxygen in here, and soon it's going to be very hard to breathe." Bilbo explained.

"So what you're saying is that our protection won't last much longer if we want to be able to fight back." Thorin summed up and Bilbo could only nod sadly; as strong as they were, they couldn't hold off hundreds, possibly thousands, of Goblins.

"Well then, push the fire out as far as you dare, then we'll fight until we draw our last breath." Balin said and the others nodded, but Bilbo had one more plan up his sleeve. He then focused, pushed the fire out, and when he was certain it was out as far as possible, he started sucking the fire into his body.

"What are you doing?! You'll get yourself killed!" Thorin shouted as he used Orcrist to cut down two Goblins that tried to get at them from under the bubble. As the fire went completely into his body, Bilbo let out a blood curdling screech as he again released the fire, this time as pure light in the shape of a large bird of prey that sent some Goblins careening over the bridges and knocked many to the ground, and sent the Goblin King sailing down into the darkness.

"RUN!" Bilbo shouted and, though a few Dwarves were dazed by the bright light, they all went off running, knowing the Goblins wouldn't be down for long. The Dwarves and Bilbo all fought with the determination of a dragon, none giving the Goblins as much as an inch. Ori was proving to be quite effective with Dwalin's second war hammer, the one called Keeper, if Bilbo was correct. Bilbo surprised himself in how often he found himself fighting back to back with Thorin, and was with him when the Goblins tried to swing over to them from another ledge and Thorin yelled

"Cut the ropes!" Thorin, Bilbo and a couple others all cut the ropes and watched as the bridge fell over, only for the Goblins on the ropes to wrap around it when it was halfway down.

"See? I told you Goblins have crappy infrastructure." Bilbo said before Thorin grabbed his collar and said

"We'll discuss superior Dwarven infrastructures when we're not running for our lives from creatures that would happily destroy every part of our bodies, for laughs." He and Thorin ran, and managed to rejoin the rest of the company, but as they arrived at the bridge they were cut off as the Goblin King sprung from the bridge. As Bilbo was forced back, closer to Fili and Kili, Bilbo became worried as a cold feeling in his stomach grew, so he passed his spear to Fili, and one of his arrows to Kili, and with a look, they understood to take their shot when it presented itself.

"You thought you could defeat me?!" The king slammed his staff on the bridge, then swung it at Thorin and Dwalin, and the cold feeling kept growing in Bilbo. 'What in the name of the Green Lady is happening to me?'

"What are you going to do now, worthless king?" The king asked but before Thorin or Dwalin could do anything, a huge black snake shot out, spitting venom at the Goblin King's face, then wrapping around him and biting any surface he could get at. Dwalin was about to hit the king with his other hammer, when his brother called out

"Dwalin, be careful! That snake is Bilbo!" Before Thorin or Dwalin could think on it, the king grabbed Bilbo and threw him to one side, and unfortunately, as he was thrown, he landed on Gloin, and they were both thrown over the edge. In their anger, Fili and Kili shot their weapons straight into the Goblin King's eyes. As the Goblin King fell, Thorin slashed at the massive stomach and Dwalin used his hammer to smash in the king's head, he then landed on the bridge, and it gave away under the immense weight.

After the Dwarves made it out of the Goblin Caves and Azog Started Chasing Them

Thorin could not feel lower if he tried; he had cost Gimli his father, Bilbo was gone, this time for real, as no snake would have survived a fall like that, Gandalf was nowhere to be seen, and it turned out that Azog was alive after all. He really was a useless leader. He and the others had managed to take down many Wargs, but their exhaustion was weighing heavily on them, as an Orc pinned each of them, and Thorin had been tossed around, he found himself wishing that Bilbo was there. Mahal must have been listening because, as Azog's son, Bolg, came forward to behead Thorin, a chakram came flying out of nowhere and took Bolg's head clean off. Thorin then watched as an Oliphant came charging out of nowhere and started throwing Orc's around, and a silver Warg came running, taking out the Orc's that had been about to kill Fili, Kili and Ori.

"Why is it whenever I leave you idiot's alone for more than five minutes, you get into life threatening danger?!" There was only one Warg that could like that to Thorin and summon a fire ball out of nowhere to hurl at the oncoming hordes, separating the two opposing sides.

"While I thank Mahal you and Gloin are alive, we are still in great danger, as there is no place else to run." Thorin said, trying to stay conscious. They then heard what sounded like eagles, and, if wolves could smile, Bilbo would be doing it now, and it was not a nice smile.

"Gandalf appears to have brought reinforcements. Gloin, change back; if what's going to happen is what I think is going to happen; the Eagles of Manwë are our way out of this mess." Bilbo said as he and Gloin shifted back (and Thorin felt his stomach clench at how badly Bilbo was bleeding) and that did appear to be the case, as one Eagle came and grabbed Bofur and Nori, dropping them. They then watched as Bilbo shifted again, though this time, his wings were huge and black as the pitch rising into the air, and his face turned into a bird of prey's face, complete with a vicious looking beak and terrifyingly shocking red eyes, and his feet became talons that could rip a Troll apart. No one knew what Bilbo was now, but as they were constantly picked up and dropped into other Eagle's back, they found themselves unable to care. They would ask Bilbo when they landed again; after all, he also had a new snake shift to explain as well.

Follow up A/N: Whew! Finally finished this chapter! Sorry about rushing the end with Azog, but it's 4 in the morning, and this is my first day off since Monday.


	7. Bilbo Begins to Understand

Chapter 7

Thorin could honestly say that flying on the backs of giant Eagles was not his favorite thing to do, though he became worried as he eventually lost sight of the little black eagle that had eventually fallen behind the others. As they came to a large establishment, which looked a bit like a strange mountain in the shape of a bear, he was rather glad as they were let off at the head of the mountain. He watched as the Eagles let off each of his companions, including Gandalf, he was still worried over how their little (OK, maybe not so little, little compared to these Eagles) eagle was still nowhere to be seen.

"Thorin, is everyone alright?" Gandalf asked as he landed and slid off his Eagle mount.

"Everyone that I can see is; some bruising and such, but nothing that rest won't heal. However, I do not see our black eagle of a burglar anywhere, and he was undoubtedly badly injured." Thorin said, and he noticed Gandalf suddenly become very still just before Fili said

"After how many times he has saved our skins, is it really that difficult to call him Bilbo? I don't think you've referred to him by his name once since he agreed to come and risk his neck on this quest; always referring to him as 'burglar' or 'Hobbit' or, on the rare occasion, 'Master Baggins', which is probably the most respectful thing you've called him." Before Thorin could make any sort of comment, Gandalf came forward and asked

"What did you mean when you called Bilbo a 'black eagle'?"

"Just that; as the Eagles picked each of us up, Bilbo shifted into a large black eagle before flying off." Dori explained and Gandalf had a strange look on his face before one of the Eagles screeched down at them.

"The Eagles are returning to their eyrie, but one will aid in bringing Bilbo here; apparently one of his wings is damaged and it would be easiest if we met Bilbo at the foot of the Carrock." Gandalf explained and they all started moving downwards before Ori said

"I'm surprised he could fly at all after what happened on the Misty Mountain." That was when it occurred to everyone that they had no clue how Bilbo had managed to save Ori from dying after they fell.

"Ori, just how did Bilbo save you after you both fell?" Dori asked and Ori had a strange look cross his face before he explained

"Well, after his wings gave out we fell and as he slammed himself into the side of the mountain, I finally managed to shift into my pika shift. We continued to fall until one of his feet managed to latch onto a protruding rock, and we landed upside down. We kind of hung there for a few minutes as Bilbo caught his breath and I heard him whisper 'please let this work'. Next thing I know his body shook, I fell, only to be caught in his mouth as he shifted from owl to weasel directly. He then proceeded to carefully climb up the side of the mountain and that's all I remember before passing out." Ori said and they were all stunned.

"I thought he couldn't do direct shift-to-shift?" Nori asked and it was Balin who replied

"Necessity breeds ability." Gandalf looked very worried about all this so he asked

"Just what all has happened in my absence that has made it so we are well over five days ahead of schedule?" Each of the Dwarves looked at each other nervously before Bofur decides to be the one to explain.

"Well, after we left Rivendell, Thorin asked Bilbo to be our scout since a flyer would be a good scout, and he was, so much so that we gained a few days. Then, as we reached the path that would lead us over the Misty Mountain, well, Thorin found Bifur teaching Bilbo Iglishmêk, and it came out that Bilbo has an eating disorder-" Here Gandalf interrupted with

"Eating disorder?!"

"Long story short on that one; Bilbo has trouble keeping food down and eating out here because of the memory of his parents." Nori explained before Bofur continued.

"Well Bilbo was mad because he thought Bombur, who had figured it out first and asked some of us to keep a watch on him, had full on told us what was wrong with him, which he didn't, he just gave us clues to figure it out to help him. Well, he spent the night away from us, then the next day he didn't want to eat breakfast with us and…" Bofur continued his recollection of everything that had happened and Gandalf could truly say he was shocked by the time he was done.

"What I don't understand is why Bilbo lied to me about the reptilian shift; the chances of us being less likely to accept a snake than a Warg are slim at best." Thorin commented and the Dwarves all agreed; amongst Dwarves, reptilian shifts were one of those things that didn't pop up every other birth, but it appeared more often than every fiftieth birth or something, and was therefore fairly accepted. Case in point being, of course, Balin with his turtle shift.

"On the contrary Thorin, Bilbo wasn't lying; his reptilian shift was unknown to even him until last night, when the danger and his anger overwhelmed him, and finally broke the spell Belladonna had put on Bilbo to protect him." Gandalf replied and many were surprised and confused.

"Belladonna?" Thorin asked and Gandalf nodded.

"Bilbo's mother; you see, she and Bungo were both worried as, just after Bilbo was born, and amongst all the fur and feathers during his birth cycle, they were almost positive that they saw a flash of scales. She was so worried about what others might do to her only child, as well as her precious baby boy, that she asked a witch near Bree to put a sort of block on the shift, she then asked me to keep my eyes open for any signs. What no one thought of, of course, is that just as water eventually wears down the mountains, so too would extreme fear and anger chip away at the block."

"I don't think I understand." Balin said and many agreed.

"Well, let's start at the beginning, where it all started; when his parents were attacked and killed, there was great rage and fear pumping through him, that is when the first chipping started and it kept going for days, till Rivendell. Then, it calmed down for a few hours when Arwen let him out of that room after we had saved him, only for it to come back full force when the Orcs attacked and almost killed Arwen, as well as almost paralyzing the other boy, more chipping. I imagine there was another incident after that, which has something to do with the Goblins, otherwise they would not have called him a 'Goblin-slayer' when they saw him. Then, things were quiet in the Shire, apart from being a pariah in his community, until we came along. Then there were the Trolls, the Great East Road, and then Rivendell with Saruman, the Stone Giants, and finally, the Goblins threatening to kill all of you. When you take into account all that, it's little wonder he shifted when he did, though when he lands, I would like to talk to him about his black eagle shift."

"Gandalf, why did Ms. Belladonna hide one of Bilbo's shifts? He often told me she was one of the few who fully accepted his shifts?" Ori asked as they reached the bottom and started to set up camp, and a sad, dark look came over the old wizards face as he replied.

"I dearly love Hobbits, and Belladonna was without a doubt, my favorite, and the friendship we shared allowed her to confide in me a secret from childhood, and one that she had only ever shared with Bungo, and even then, it was not until Bilbo was born. She had been one of the last born to her family, with her mother going through the pregnancy process one last time after her. Now, she and her mother had gone to Bree, when her mother suddenly went into labor, requiring the assistance of a healer from Bree, as the Hobbits there did not have a trained midwife to assist in birthing. Belladonna wanted to stay with her mother, but the healer had her placed outside of the room. Belladonna, however, was never one to be pushed around (something I'm happy to note her son inherited), so she climbed up the side of the house where they had been taken, to the window of the room her mother resided. And so, she watched as her mother went through the great pains of birthing, and watched as her mother gave birth to a little boy. However, her mother passed out, so the only ones to witness the lad's birth cycle, were the healer and Belladonna, and Belladonna saw that her little brother would have a reptilian shift of a snake; the healer was a fool that believed since Sauron could shift into a giant basilisk, that all snakes were signs of evil, and took the child away from his mother, sister, and this world before anyone could object. Belladonna was the only one who saw this, the healer saying the child had been stillborn, and she never told anyone what really happened, until her own darling boy came to this world, and, as if history had repeated itself, he too had a snake shift. Bungo could have cared less if his son was a snake or a mongoose or a dragon, so long as he had a child to love and care for with his beloved wife. But when Belladonna told him of what had happened to her brother, he agreed that, in order to protect what may be their only child, it would be best to hide Bilbo's shift until he was able to protect himself from such close minded fools." As Gandalf finished, many were sickened that someone could actually do that an innocent baby. If Belladonna had not seen it, would she have allowed someone from the world of Men near her baby, their burglar and friend, and would they have killed him, before he had had a chance to live?

"I must ask you, not to bring this up with Bilbo; he knew about some things concerning his would-be uncle, but did not know about the block or the specifics. Though Bilbo, being the bright lad that he is, has probably put it all together by now." Then, as if his praise were words of summoning, the last Eagle of Manwë appeared in the sky; he looked much older than the others had, but he flew no less gracefully, and he landed no less gracefully. He straightened his back and a small (compared to him) eagle slid off his back.

"I must caution everyone; Bilbo is five times more dangerous in this shift than he is in any other, even the wolf hybrid, tiger or the snake." Gandalf cautioned slowly as Oin had started to move over and check on the badly bleeding eagle, only to be snapped at by the little eagle and the other Eagle to look menacingly at him.

"Why?" Kili asked as he looked at Bilbo, though he had to admit the blood-red eyes did unnerve him a bit.

"For several reasons, if Bilbo is what I think he is. For one, he is as aggressive as a Martial Eagle, a bird of prey that feeds on whatever it can catch, from Guinea fowl and other birds, to baboons, lion cubs, and even antelopes! For another, he has the talons of a Harpy Eagle, which are longer than a bears claws and it has such a powerful grasp, that it could break a man's arm or even pierce through his skull if it wanted to. Thirdly, he has the strong, sharp, and powerful beak of the Steller's Sea Eagle, which is one of the strongest beaks for eagles in all of Middle Earth. Finally, it is rumoured to be a larger cousin to the dangerous Crowned Eagle; a bird so powerful and aggressive that it had been known as 'the leopard of the air', as well as being the only bird to actually kill and eat the children of Men. Not to mention his wings can whip up hurricanes Smaug would be proud of, and his screech is said to be able to turn a man's brains into pudding if he's exposed to it long enough." They all looked nervously at the wounded eagle with new respect.

"How can we help him if he won't let us near him?" Thorin asked and Gandalf could only sigh

"I wish I knew; from the look of him, he's in so much pain, he can't recognize friend from foe, though I doubt he will attack Fili, Kili or Ori as they are quite young, though I wouldn't be sending them near Bilbo until he's calmed down some."

"If we wait for him to calm down and let his Hobbit mind take over again, he may bleed to death!" Bofur replied angrily and the others nodded.

"If any of you would wish to try and get near him, be my guest, though do not forget he is flanked by another Eagle that does not appear to be in any hurry to leave, and a wounded animal is at least twice as dangerous as a healthy one." Each of the Dwarves tried to get close enough but they were snapped at, gently pushed away, or, in Dwalin's case when he tried a second, more robust, time, screamed at, until Thorin was the only one left who had not tried.

"I suppose it's my turn to try." Thorin said but many looked highly uneasy.

"Uh Thorin, need I remind you that you and he aren't exactly the best of friends?" Balin asked as the little Eagle and his companion wearily eyed his king.

"That may be true, but I'm the only one he directly saved without being a hatchling, so he may listen. I believe that is why he nudged Fili, Kili, and Ori even more gently than the others; his animalistic mind said they were children and wounded birds do not allow young near them." Thorin said before taking the bandages and ointments from Bombur, who had been the last to try, and Thorin was immensely glad Nori had hung onto Bilbo's medic bag during the Goblin fiasco, and approached a bird with a beak that could cleave flesh from bone, talons that could crush bones and wings that could easily knock him over and out.

"Mast– Bilbo, if you can hear me, I would like to speak with you. I said at the beginning of this quest that you would be a burden; that you would not survive in the wild, and that you had no place amongst us. I have never been so wrong, in all my life. Not only do you have a place amongst us, but it is that of a protector; even when your body has been exhausted to a point where moving was agony, you have called on a strength that not many could even dream of and run to the aide of those who barely trusted you. And you have comforted those that needed it, such as Ori that first night when we first heard the Wargs; you are uncomfortable with physical contact, let alone physical signs of affection, and you still tried to comfort him when he was afraid. You have performed the role of protector admirably, and now I ask for the chance to return the favour and aid and protect you in your time of need." Thorin finished his little speech, and Bilbo looked at him for a long moment before reaching under one of his wings and pulling out… Thorin's shield? As he tossed the shield to his feet, Bilbo managed to garble out one word in question

"Oak?" Thorin could only nod, as he was surprised that Bilbo had his shield; he could not even remember dropping it.

"It would appear Bilbo does have some respect for you Thorin; while he and the other Eagles attacked the Orc pack, he must have swooped down and retrieved your shield for you. You wouldn't remember dropping it because of the adrenaline pumping through your veins at the time." Gandalf offered as Thorin gently made his way to Bilbo, who seemed to have finally calmed down upon recognizing someone. It was actually a large number of scratches and bruises, except for one wing that somehow had the targe on it, that looked quite possibly sprained.

"Gloin, just what happened after you and Bilbo fell off the bridge?" Thorin asked, being sure not to accidently pull any feathers out.

"Well, after we fell, Bilbo managed to slow our descent enough so that we didn't end up smashing our skulls in. Hoping that we were still close to the exit, we quickly got up and started moving."

Flashback to the Goblin Tunnels

"You sure you're alright Gloin?" Bilbo asked as they made their way down the passage.

"I'm fine lad; let's just get out of here before more Goblins find us. By the way, thank you, for saving Oin's trumpet; out here, it would be difficult to replace or fix, and his hearing really isn't the greatest." Bilbo only nodded, then made a motion for silence, just as a creature jumped down and was about to attack them, only for Bilbo to block with his targe and spear, which had fallen beside him after the fall.

"What is they Precious? Are they yummy? Are they crunchy? Gollum! Gollum!" The creature seemed insane as it talked to itself and Gloin and Bilbo could only look at the creature in bewilderment.

"I am Gloin, son of Groin, and this is Bilbo Baggins, son of Bungo, who and what are you, vile creature?" The creature seemed to ignore Gloin and was going on about killing them and eating them, but also about playing a game.

"I would like to play a game, I truly would. So how about you and I have a game of riddles?" Bilbo asked, and Gloin was looking at him as if he had lost his mind to which Bilbo replied

"Keeping his mind busy means he won't be using his mouth to eat us!" Gloin agreed as the creature asked

"What does it get if it wins, Precious?"

"You let Gloin and I leave with no problems."

"And if it loses what then? Well, if it loses, Precious, then we eat them! If Baggins loses, we eats it whole." Bilbo and Gloin were both nervous, but Bilbo said

"Fair enough, but you should really only eat me; Gloin is a Dwarf and they're made from rocks, so very difficult to eat, and very hard to digest. If you eat him, the indigestion alone will keep you laid up for days, meaning the Goblins could get you and kill you. Now, if you would kindly start us off?" The strange creature then asked its riddle

"What has roots as nobody sees, / Is taller than trees/ Up, up, up it goes, / And yet never grows?" Bilbo thought for a moment before he answered

"A mountain. Now my turn; Thirty white horses on a red hill/ First they champ/ Then they stamp/ Then they stand still." The creature thought for a long moment before saying

"Teeth? Teeth! We only have nine. Our turn; Voiceless it cries, / Wingless flutters, / Toothless bites, / Mouth less mutters." Bilbo seemed stumped, until a breeze wafted over the Hobbit and Dwarf and Bilbo said

"Wind! The answer is wind. Now it's my turn; A box without hinges, key or lid, / Yet golden treasure inside is hid." The creature thought for almost a full five minutes, and Gloin allowed himself to hope that Bilbo had come up with the right riddle, only for that hope to be dashed as the creature shouted

"Eggs! Our grandmother taught us to suck them when we was small! Last riddle; This thing all things devours: / Birds, beasts, trees, flowers; / Gnaws iron, bites steel; / Grinds hard stones to meal; / Slays king, ruins town,/ And beats high mountain down." Bilbo thought for a long while, and Gloin began to worry that Bilbo would be unable to beat the creature and so he readied his axes in case he needed to defend his wounded comrade.

"Times up." The creature said with a self-satisfied smile on his face, only for Bilbo's face to suddenly light up as the answer came to him.

"Time! The answer is time." Bilbo then thought long and hard, trying to think of something that would truly stump the strange creature. Finally, he came up with one.

"What creature, am I and where is my home?" The creature then started going on about it not being a fair question but Bilbo argued that the creature had said *any* question, and conceded to three guesses.

"Dwarf from the mountains!" Bilbo shook his head and said

"Nope; my feet are too big and my ears are pointed. Try again."

"Elf from the forests!"

"Too short; one more guess." The creature became frantic as it tried to think of something.

"Goblin!"

"I take offence at that! Now, you were unable to guess correctly so-" The creature then lunged at Bilbo, only for Gloin's axe to block and Bilbo used his spear to knock him out.

"Come on; if we have any hope of finding Thorin and the company, we better get moving."

"But shouldn't we finish it off?"

"No; he's not worth it, now come on!"

End of Flashback

"And that's what happened." The others were all shocked and astounded as Gloin finished his story.

"Bilbo said you were made out of rocks in order to protect you?" Oin asked and Gloin nodded.

"Why didn't he say you were both made out of rocks? Then maybe the creature would have left both of you alone!" Kili stated but Nori shook his head

"Apart from a similar size, Bilbo doesn't really look like us, so it may not have bought it at all. What I want to know is why did he let the creature live? Any one of us would have killed it."

"That is another difference between you and Bilbo, Master Nori; he does not long for a bloodbath, nor does he excite at the idea of war, he simply fights so that when he dies, it will be on his terms, and not anyone else's. He learned to fight as a way to vent the anger and betrayal he felt as a child long ago, and he continued it because the Shire is a fertile and enviable land, and it needs a protector. In an essence; he learned to fight, so that he could keep the peace." As they thought over Gandalf's words, many realized that they were very hungry, and they had unfortunately lost most of their rations, when Bilbo made a chirping noise to the larger Eagle, who gently ran his beak over Bilbo's head (and nearly hit Thorin) before taking off.

"I believe Bilbo just asked the Eagle to hunt for you and him." Gandalf informed the Dwarves and they were greatly relieved.

"Oin, it looks like one of his wings is sprained, what should I do about it?"

"See if you can keep him calm while I look to see how severe it is." Oin said and Thorin really had to do very little, since Bilbo seemed to be able to at least realize that no one here was going to hurt him.

"Well, as usual, he was very bright about his injuries; looks like he used his targe as a splint to keep the wing immobile, which would explain why he lagged behind and eventually rode the other Eagle. He was more or less gliding than actually flying until his friend helped him. That has helped the healing process along, we'll compress it with a bandage and see to it he lets it rest for forty-eight hours, which means he'll be a downed bird until the day after tomorrow. I just wish we had some ice to help it along." Oin said and Bilbo suddenly chirped before picking up a rock with his beak, and the others watched as his breath seemed to freeze the rock.

"Bilbo seems more willing to use his elemental capabilities than before; very interesting." Gandalf said as Oin gently took the rock and gave it to Thorin before bandaging the wing. Thorin, who had had many sprains before, as well as looking after his nephews injuries, simply put the ice stone on the wing, and would keep an eye on things. The other Eagle then screeched its return, heralding a very large buck in its talons; as the Eagle dropped the buck near Bombur and Bifur, he also dropped some fish near Bilbo, who trilled at the sight.

"I do hope that Bilbo will shift back soon; I have a feeling that there is a very interesting story behind why this Eagle is staying so close to Bilbo, and so attentive. Something tells me also that it may just be linked to why the Goblins feared him so much." The others all nodded, and then proceeded to carve up the buck and cook it, while Bilbo happily enjoyed his fish. Thorin found Fili and Kili sneaking some of the raw bits of the buck to Bilbo, who ate them curiously, but wouldn't eat much of it.

"As a bird, his instincts tell him that fledglings should have lots to eat. His tiger instincts basically say the same thing; unlike lions, where the male eats first, tiger males allow the females and children to eat first, and then they eat." Balin explained as he looked at Bilbo, a strange look in his eyes as he took in the black eagle.

"What is it Balin?" Thorin asked as he was handed his portion of the stew.

"Old stories that my gran used to tell me as a boy, about Dwarves not being solely connected to the ground, having Arial protectors that would also act as mounts for the braver Dwarves who wished to see Middle Earth from above the mountains as well as below it."

"Indeed you are right Master Balin; if my hunch is correct, and knowing Bilbo's luck it probably is, Bilbo is a bird that was known as a Black Eagle; a bird that had many dangerous relations in its family tree, though it is now extinct, and has been for an age, thanks to the ignorance of Men." Gandalf said and many had a feeling they weren't going to like it but as Ori opened his mouth to ask, Gandalf simply said

"I shall wait until Bilbo is able to hear me a little more clearly to tell you why; he deserves to know some good about his shifts for a change instead of always hearing the worst about his shifts, particularly when I find the jaguar and leopard, where he gets his strong jaws and legs respectively, most beautiful."

"I wonder why his tiger shift is actually a jumble of the strongest big cats." Dwalin wondered and Gandalf replied

"Bilbo had to learn to adapt if was going to survive; it only makes sense that his shifts would do the exact same thing, though it pains him to do it often, so he will only change when the occasion calls for it. He actually prefers his weasel and owl shifts." Thorin could well understand that, and wondered what Bilbo would look like as an ocelot, leopard or jaguar, as he had never seen those big cats before. They all then finally succumbed to two days of adrenaline coursing through their veins with very little rest. Before he fell asleep, he felt Fili curl in next to him, saw Kili curl up next to Bilbo, who placed his wing over him, and was almost certain he saw Gandalf smile at them. The next day, Thorin woke up to Fili asking

"Where's Bilbo?!" Thorin and the others quickly got up and looked around, only to suddenly hear a chirp from above, causing them to look up and see Bilbo hanging upside down from a branch high above their heads.

"Bilbo! How in blue blazes did you get up there?! And why didyou go up there?" Bofur called up and Bilbo tugged on a branch to connect it with others that had been pulled over and then they heard rain drops and realized it was raining and had been for a while. They then looked at a tree near the Durin's resting spot, and saw claw marks on the log, evenly spaced out.

"Did you climb all the way up there just to give us some protection from the rain?" Balin asked and Bilbo happily chirped and chirped happily again when the larger Eagle landed, the others all being so worried at Bilbo's disappearance they hadn't even noticed the Eagle had left to hunt for them again. As the large Eagle ducked his head under the shelter, he gently butted his beak against Bilbo, who let go of his branch and slid down the Eagle's back.

"Thank you indeed, my dear friend; both for hunting for us, and finding more fish for Bilbo." Gandalf said as Bombur cut into the carcass. The bird simply nodded before grooming Bilbo.

"Gandalf, is it just me, or does that Eagle act rather paternal towards Bilbo?" Thorin asked as Gloin and Ori went to gather some firewood.

"I have noticed it as well, although the word you are looking for is maternal; that's a female Eagle. But she is indeed very protective and very caring of Bilbo; making me ever more curious as to what happened to Bilbo whilst he was training with Radagast."

"You know nothing of his time with the other wizard?"

"Nothing; I had some business to tend to, so Radagast completely took over Bilbo's trouble with his new shifts, and he was with him for a year and a half, before Radagast moved closer to the Greenwood to better protect it. The next time I saw him, Bilbo's eyes had the same look they do now; a harshness that is released in battle, and hardness and coldness that not many would dare to breach. Unlike your nephews, who, while unnerved by his gaze, are still willing to be near him, as is Bofur. I am still surprised though that he was willing to fly as your scout."

"Why?"

"Bilbo is forbidden from flying in the Shire."

"Are they really that scared he'll eat them?" Dori asked as Bombur started dishing out the meal.

"Not only that, but owls are seen as omens of death in the Shire."

"WHAT?! But Dwarves see them as good omens! Whenever I've seen an owl during a heist, I've never been caught, not once! Just ask Dwalin! And many see them as signs of victory, of death to your enemies!" Nori exclaimed and many agreed, indeed, many had felt some elation when they found out Bilbo was an owl; an owl burglar could only be a sign of good fortune.

"Alas, all of Bilbo's shifts are seen as killers; owl, tiger, wolf, weasel, eagle and now snake, each an animal that could decimate the Shire's population."

"/That's ridiculous! Bilbo would never hurt someone unless he was attacked first!/" Bifur angrily said and took a protective stance around their downed Eagle, who was once again enjoying his fish, as if someone would suddenly pop out and hurt their wounded friend.

"Apparently most believe that what returned to the Shire seven years after his parents' deaths was not really Bilbo Baggins, but just a dark force using Bilbo as a shell." Many scoffed at the ridiculous idea that Bilbo would do such a thing; it appeared they knew him better after travelling with him for only a few months than his neighbors had living near him for years. For the rest of the day, they spent their time practicing with their weapons, going over their routes, being able to actually make some progress as Bilbo climbed trees and switched from branch to branch, and Gandalf going on ahead to ask for aid from a friend of his, saying he would be back tomorrow morning. That night, the Dwarves hunted for themselves, and were able to find some pheasants, as well as plenty of fish, which of course made Bilbo very happy, who was able to shake some apples from the tree he was hanging from. They had managed to ask the Eagle if she wanted anything, but she managed to convey her decline. They then settled in for sleep, until dawn broke, and found Bilbo gone again, along with the other Eagle, though this time his spear was leaning against the tree he had been laying against the night before. They also noticed three dead rabbits next to a fire that seemed to have been going for a little while.

"Alright Dori, one more good hit and they should start falling." They turned and were all relieved to see Bilbo carrying a load of fish over his shoulder and standing beside a mountain goat who was ramming a nearby tree that had more apples in it.

"Bilbo! You're awake and you shifted back!" Kili excitedly said and Bilbo dryly replied

"Astute observation. Now help me and Dori pick up these apples. Also, we will be hunting after breakfast to gather supplies for Mirkwood since the person that Gandalf is trying to persuade is a very strict vegetarian. He is a skin-changer that believes in professional courtesy when it comes to meals, and if one of you idiots should insult him and anger him to attack by even suggesting eating meat, I don't have the strength to protect you just now. Now, there is a spell I know that will keep any meat we catch fresh for a couple of months, just don't damage it too much when you bring it down." Bilbo explained as Kili came over and helped pick up the many apples that had fallen.

"Two questions; one, how do you know that and two, where is your Eagle bodyguard?" Thorin asked as Bombur and Bofur started cooking the fish Bilbo had caught.

"Solareas, my 'Eagle bodyguard', flew back to the eyrie and was the one to tell me about the skin-changer, as well as warn me about our hosts temper when it comes to eating meat. Now, how are you feeling? Let's not forget you were the one to get a mace to the face, be bitten by a Warg and used as a chew toy." Thorin winced at the reminder to his wounded pride.

"A few injuries, the worst being a few fractured ribs, unlike you, who had a damaged wing from sliding down a mountain, a bad head wound from splitting it on a rock – yes I saw you land on the rock – when we fell into the Goblin caves, multiple bruises and scratches from getting a beating from the Goblins, as well as any injuries you gathered during your fall and the battle with Azog." Thorin said and Bilbo's cheeks turned a little pink before he said

"I'm sure you've seen worse."

"If I did not wish to be on the wrong end of your hooks, I would call you a danger-prone idiot."

"Well, as my father would say, takes one to know one- my hooks!" Bilbo said with a start as he darted over to his pack and came to a horrifying realization.

"What's wrong?" Dwalin asked as he quickly came over only for Bilbo to say

"I've not only lost one of my chakram, but I also lost my claymore!" Ori quickly came over and tried to see if he could find either, but they all knew the Bilbo had indeed lost one of his chakram when he sliced off Bolg's ugly head, and now that Gloin thought about it, Bilbo had used his spear and targe against the creature, when everyone knew he preferred his sword for close contact.

"Now I'm down to two chakram, and the damn letter-opener for a sword!" Bilbo said and they could tell he was taking the loss of the claymore particularly hard, not that they thought he was over-reacting of course; they would feel exactly the same if they had lost any of their own beloved weapons.

"Well, at least you still have your hooks as well as the letter-opener." Fili said, trying to cheer Bilbo up.

"That may be true, but I've had that claymore for thirty years, and I'm still rather new with the hooks. Not to mention that that chakram won't be easy to replace; most have never even heard of one, let alone made one, and these were made to specific modifications in accordance to my size." They were all sad to hear that, but Ori said

"When we get to Erebor, we'll make you a whole bunch of new chakram! And we'll replace your claymore too!" Many nodded in agreement but Bilbo only looked mildly better.

"I thank you for the offer but it does not do me much good now as I am still down to two chakram, as well as two swords I am either very new at or just can't get the hang of, so that leaves me with my bow, spear, targe that I know how to use, as well as my two knives and the war hammer. And Azog is still alive, and he'll probably be after my blood almost as much as yours, Thorin, seeing as how I decapitated his son and heir."

"Well then, there is only one thing for it; I will help you get used to your letter opener until we can replace your claymore." Balin said and Bilbo looked shocked at this offer.

"Also, some of us have extra axes and throwing knives; we can test you to see how well you work with them, which should be pretty easy once you get the hang of it." Fili suggested and Bilbo couldn't keep his mouth from dropping a bit in his shock.

"And I've got an extra slingshot; it may not be as impressive as your chakram or an axe, but it can get the job done." Ori said and Bilbo finally asked

"Why are you willing to do all this for me?"

"Giving you a few replacement weapons and helping you get the hang of them seems to be a small price to pay for all the times you've saved our asses." Nori said and the others nodded in agreement, which made Bilbo blush a bit but was saved from making any foolhardy comments as Gandalf returned.

"Ah, Bilbo! I can't begin to tell you how happy I am that you have shifted back! I have found someone who may be able to give us some proper time to rest, if we play our cards right. Now, do you think we could learn about your Black Eagle shift? I did not even know you had a secondary flying shift." Bilbo looked a tad uncomfortable but knew Gandalf and the others would not let up until they knew the story behind his Black Eagle, especially if they knew it was linked to why the Goblins feared him. As their breakfast was divvied up, Bilbo sat down and started his story

"Well, as you've probably guessed, it occurred not long after I was sent to live with Radagast in order to get more in touch with both my magic and my new shifts. I had been badly poisoned by some mushrooms he had given me, and the next thing I knew, my golden feathers had turned pitch black and I had grown from the size of a foot rest to being larger than a dining room table. He didn't understand it and neither did I, but we didn't dwell overly much on it; after all, I had just gone through two major transformations, what was one more? Radagast was very excited however, because the old stories often told about how long and far the Black Eagles could fly without food or rest. So, I set off to see just how long I could fly without food, water or rest and I ended up flying for three days and nights before I needed to rest. After I was done resting, I was just about to fly back and tell Radagast how long and far I had flown, when I heard a horrible screeching noise. I followed it and saw that some Goblins had managed to catch a fledgling of the Eagles and were getting ready to kill her, so, I swooped down and killed them, along with staying to protect the fledgling. When the older Eagles found us, it was determined that I learn some basic skills of what it meant to be a bird, as a thank you for protecting a dear friend of the High Lord's sons. These included how to catch a fish without landing, how to fly trusting your gizzard, and one of the most important skills of birds, being able to listen to the winds to see when it was safe to fly and when it wasn't. Solareas, my 'Eagle bodyguard' as Thorin put her, was my teacher because she hated Orcs as much as I did; she had lost her mate, sister, and both of her hatchlings in a war they had fought against Orcs and Wargs. After I left, I was told to consider myself kin of the Eagles, and before she left today, she said that if I wanted, when the quest was over, I could come live with her at the Eyrie." At the surprised and strange looks Bilbo elaborated with

"Since she lost her whole family to the Orcs, I think Solareas felt a bond with me and kind of, perhaps thought of me as a replacement hatchling. Anyways, when I returned to Radagast my beak and claws were still stained black, so Radagast gave me the name 'Black Claw' whilst the Eagles and Goblins named me Light-Bringer and Goblin-Slayer."

"Bilbo, I think I could know you for a thousand years, and you would still find ways to surprise me." Gandalf said as they finished their breakfast and Bilbo shrugged before asking

"Now that we're done with further probing into my past, Solareas told me that we could step into your skin changer's territory tomorrow and spend today hunting. However, I worry about the hunting capabilities of these Dwarves since the only ones I've seen the shifts of are Ori, Gloin, Fili, Kili to protect me and Thorin in anger whilst attacking me and I'm betting that Dwarves don't teach themselves how to fight, let alone hunt in their shifts."

"Well then, Bilbo, why don't you give the Dwarves some pointers on trusting their shifts today while stockpiling on hunts for when you enter Mirkwood." Gandalf suggested while the others looked confused and a little worried, as they knew Bilbo had a short fuse when it came to this sort of thing.

"Hey, why do I get the job of teaching something to a bunch of Dwarves something they should have been taught when they were Dwarflings? Furthermore, what makes you think they'd be willing to give up the ways of their forefathers?" Bilbo asked but it was Thorin who replied with

"Bilbo, if we had thought of attacking in our shifts instead of keeping to these forms, Azog and his Wargs would never have been able to pin us. I cannot promise you that we will listen with perfect hearing, but we will do our best to listen to you; Mirkwood is heavily infected and it does not seem wise for us to be fighting our 'instincts'. I bit Kili when I was a little frustrated; I don't want to think about what I might do if I was sufficiently frustrated with a dark, dank forest that we will be in for at least two weeks." Remarkably enough, Bilbo completely agreed with Thorin; with so many volatile shifts, the Dwarves needed to be in tune with their shifts to be able to sense danger or they would all get killed.

"Right then, when you take that way of thinking then there isn't a moment to lose in getting you to trust your instincts; we'll start with trusting your instincts to hunt today and work on the rest while we recuperate at Gandalf's friends place. Now, Kili is going to be a sort of assistant in this endeavor with Fili perhaps helping a bit as well."

"Why are Kili and I going to be helping you?" Fili asked and Bilbo looked at them before saying

"Because Kili can speak perfect Westron in his cheetah shift, and you have a good handle on it in your lion, but not the greatest, as I'm sure Thorin would be willing to attest to. Now, only those that can speak Westron in a shift are in tune with their shifts, such as the Elves, or at least partially. Now, Kili, Fili, I want the two of you to tell me why it is you think you can talk, why are you willing to trust them even a little so you can talk?"

"I suppose I was always in awe of the lion's strength and everything, and since it is considered a king in the animal world, I thought it might be something of an omen that I could be a good king towards my people." Bilbo nodded at Fili's explanation.

"That is highly intelligent of you; respect your shifts powers and what they can mean. However, you fear that your own qualities are somewhat lacking and undeserving of such a noble animal, correct?" Fili nodded, surprised that Bilbo knew that without asking, but then again, as Thorin said, Bilbo was an observer.

"I thought so, that's why to an outsider, your Westron is a little choppy; I can hear you perfectly because I am another feline, to Thorin, a canine, it probably sounded a little choppy, which brings us to rule number one; respect your shifts powers, but do not underestimate your own. Remember your maker gave you that particular animal for a reason. Also, rule number two, though it's more of something just to remember than an actual rule; animals in the same family can talk to each other, but to outsiders, if you are not in tune with your shift, it is broken Westron. Kili?" Kili then went on with his explanation,

"Ever since I was child, the other Dwarves always made fun of me for everything; I looked too Elvish to be a pure Dwarf, only Elves used bows, my father deliberately got himself killed so he wouldn't have to be burdened with a 'Dwelf' son." Bilbo listened, and saw the other Dwarves look ashamed they had let such behavior go on without their knowledge, before he said

"You felt that there was no one you could confide in?"

"There wasn't really; Fili always seemed busy with learning how to be a proper heir for when we reclaimed Erebor and when he had free time for me, I didn't want to burden him with what the others called me, Thorin was always busy and trying to make things a bit easier, and I know some said unsavory things about my mother on how her second child looked a lot like an Elf. So, I was often left to my own devices, until one day, my cheetah and otter began talking to me." Here, Bilbo interrupted

"Ah, so they initiated the contact did they? That is very interesting indeed."

"I thought so as well, and asked my mother about it and she said that most ignored their shifts when they talked to them, but because I had unusual shifts, maybe I should listen to them."

"Your mother was very wise; I wish I could have met her." Bilbo said and the Dwarves could hear the sincerity in his voice.

"Yes, I think the two of you would have got on like two peas in a pod. Anyhow, as I listened to them, I found myself wishing that I could run as fast as the cheetah, and swim as stealthily as the otter could."

"Then their traits bled over into your body and one day as a cheetah or otter, you just started speaking Westron, right?" Bilbo deduced and Kili just nodded.

"Well then, Kili is more in touch than I gave him credit for, which brings us to rule three; the shifts are a part of us and, if we give them a chance, our friends. As my mother would say after the other grownups said they didn't want a weasel or an owl around their children, in a world so full of life, and with shifts a part of your very soul, you are only as alone as you wish to be. Now, Kili, if you would kindly shift so I can see just how good of a hunting partner you'll be today?" Kili was practically bouncing with pride as he shifted, though he squirmed in uneasiness when the others, even Gandalf a little, looked at him in surprise.

"What's wrong?" Kili asked and it was Ori who said

"Your coat is darker than it should be."

"Is that all? I'm a king cheetah, we're sort of a sub-species that has more splotches than actual spots, complete with three lines running down our back." Bilbo then knelt in front of him and gently lifted his front paws so Kili could see them and was shocked by what he saw; they were pure black!

"Balin, had you noticed Kili's fur becoming blacker before this shift? I ask because you were the one who was focused more on him during my fight with Thorin." Balin thought back and realized that Kili's fur had been getting darker, but it had been doing so gradually, so Balin never paid much attention to it. His recognition must have shown on his face, because Bilbo then asked

"When did his fur start turning? If you can't remember exactly, approximately the time in which you thought the fur looked even a touch off." Balin didn't need to think for long before he said

"Just after Dis died."

"Interesting. Well, I believe Kili is changing from a king cheetah to a black leopard, sometimes referred to as a black panther; however he is not to be confused with Lady Arwen, who is a black cougar. This could be rather fortuitous to you, as leopards have the strongest climbing capabilities of all the big cats. Now, I want the rest of you to shift into your preferred shift and then we'll go hunting remember though, I can talk to you, but you won't be able to talk to me." So all the Dwarves shifted into their dominant shifts, and Bilbo was suddenly surrounded by a menagerie of different animals and Bilbo admitted that he was very impressed with what he saw, though he could tell that the shift for many of them had been very painful, especially for Thorin and Bofur.

"Now we come to rule four; if you do not accept your shifts the transformation is very painful. Case in point, Thorin and Bofur; hyenas have a very bad reputation and therefore Bofur fights his instincts and experiences a painful transformation. First, I would like to say that this is a horrible thing to do, as hyenas are very talented hunters; they actually take down almost 90% of their own kills, they are also, you'll pardon the expression, nature's garbage disposals in that they eat everything of their kills including hair, bones and hooves. Then, we have someone who fights both wolf and badger, which again is a terrible idea because wolves are loyal animals that will not suffer a blight to their pack, and badgers are simply ferocious animals that will defend their family to the death. Now everyone, please trust me and just let a bit of your mind be taken over by your animal instincts." Bilbo watched as they all closed their eyes and seemed to be doing something. Gandalf explained,

"They are removing a few of their mental defenses' dear boy; Dwarves, from a very young age are taught how to create blocks so their animal side cannot show themselves." Bilbo snorted at such a ridiculous thought, but then remembered that he himself had had such blocks before he went to live with Radagast, who was the one to show him that the only way to survive was to embrace your animal side. He then watched as their eyes open, and they seemed a bit different.

"The animal side is beginning to peak through for them; not much but it's a start." Fili explained as he came over to sit on the other side of Bilbo.

"Alright, now we are going to hunt some deer that are not too far from here. My one condition is that you try your best not to kill females or young; I will not abide that kind of hunting. Now, here is my plan; we shall form a circle around the herd, do your best not to make a sound or you shall give away our position. Fili, Kili and myself shall be directly facing the herd and when we coming storming out, that shall be everyone's cue to charge from the sides. Thorin and Dwalin shall come from the left whilst Bofur and Nori come from the right, meanwhile, Balin, Dori, Bifur, Bombur, Oin and Gloin shall head off the herd and try not to let too many escape." Bilbo then heard a small cry from below and saw a small pika looking up at him with the obvious question in his eyes 'What do I do?'

"Ori, you have an extremely important role; one of us is going to put you high enough in a tree so that you will be our eyes and ears. Meaning you'll be alerting us to when a fine buck is about to get away, or we're getting too close to a calf for your liking, but most importantly informing me if one of the others is in danger of being hurt by a frightened buck. Everyone understand? Remember now, you will only charge when you see Fili, Kili, and myself charging. Alright then, let's go." As the others all turned to leave, Bilbo was surprised when Nori rubbed up against Bilbo in a friendly way, and Dori gently nuzzled Bilbo before they too left.

"They are thanking you for giving Ori an important role, whilst also keeping him far from danger where a little pika could get hurt." Gandalf explained before Bilbo turned and left to rejoin the others. Perhaps there is still hope, not only for this quest, but also for the Dwarves and Bilbo.


	8. Bilbo Battles the Dwarves

Chapter 8

The hunt had gone particularly well, considering that the Dwarves had never actually hunted in their shifts before. Bilbo had given points to Nori and Dori for their teamwork and quick thinking; Nori had decided to go after a rather large buck on his own in his bobcat shift, which proved to be a bad idea as bobcats were on the rather small side and he would have been trampled, had Dori not shifted to his caracal shift and, though another small cat, the two felines worked together and, rather remarkably, were able to bring down the buck between the two of them. After that, they hunted for rabbits, which Bilbo left Nori to supervise as he taught Dwalin and some of the others how to fish. When asked why, Bilbo simply replied

“You and Dori worked together quickly and efficiently, so I think you deserve a chance to supervise this particular hunt while I try to teach this lot how to catch fish without drowning. Besides, in case you haven’t noticed; you’re speaking almost perfect Westron to me as a fox and I’m still in my tiger shift!” Nori was surprised as he hadn’t realized that for the rabbit hunt, he had indeed changed back to his fox shift, but Bilbo was still a tiger to go fishing in. Nori couldn’t quite explain it, but Bilbo’s comment made him feel pretty proud, especially when Ori was looking up at him with his very cute pika eyes filled with pride at the thought his big brother was picking up on his instincts faster than anyone else (hell, even Dori looked proud). They had managed to catch a handful of rabbits and had a very good laugh as Bilbo’s team returned with a number of fish and a soaking wet tiger.

“You suck at fishing Thorin Oakenshield; I’ve seen oxen with more grace in water than you.” Bilbo addressed an almost equally soaking wolf who growled at Bilbo, only to be knocked over by a very smug bear as he came through. They all shifted back and Ori exclaimed

“Wow! You all caught a lot of fish!” Bilbo noticed Dwalin blush a bit, and remembered a few instances along the trip and decided to play at something that was entirely out of his depth; matchmaking.

“Actually Ori, it was mostly Dwalin who caught the fish; as I was saying, Thorin has yet to grasp any sense of balance on his paws in the water (honestly, I think it would have been better if he had changed into a badger and tried; at least I wouldn’t be quite so wet), Fili and Kili were more intent on splashing about (further contributing to my soaked appearance) and I was busy trying to help Thorin. So, to put it in a nutshell, the Line of Durin are rotten fishermen!” Bilbo said and the others all laughed at Bilbo’s comments and Dwalin blushed a little at Ori’s adoring look. Bilbo then sighed and took off his shirt to exchange it for a dry one, when all the laughing stopped and Bilbo realized he had yet to put the full glamor back on his body.

“Bilbo, who did that to you?” Gandalf asked in a voice that was both very sad and promised horrible retribution. The Dwarves had to admit, they wouldn’t mind giving him a hand in that retribution.

“What are you talking about?” Bilbo tried to play dumb as he went to his pack to get another shirt, only to be stopped by Dori, who turned Bilbo around and displayed Bilbo’s chest to the rest of the camp.

“He’s talking about the fair amount of scars littering your chest lad.” Dwalin said and the others nodded, many sickened at the amount of cruelty that had been placed into each wound and what was worse, someone had used Bilbo’s skin as though it were parchment, and wrote/burned the word ‘Abomination’.

“Some Men caught me running in my Warg shift whilst I was with Radagast.”

“But didn’t you explain-” Balin tried to ask, but Bilbo’s eyes, which had held a fair amount of amusement before, burned with the hatred that was present when he fought the Orcs.

“Why do you think they wrote ‘abomination’ on my torso? I changed back as soon as they caught me, but it didn’t make a difference; they cut into me, trying to make me change back so they could boast about killing a silver Warg. And the Warg was screaming at me ‘Let me out, I will rip them to shreds, I shall tear apart these fools!’ but I wouldn’t do it. All the shifts were screaming at me ‘We are so small; they will never catch us as we flee!’ ‘We must fly away or they will kill us!’ ‘These fools are no match for a tiger! Release me and they will face the beauty of an enraged tiger!’ ‘These little men are no match for my beak and claws let me out and they will know how it feels to be the defenceless ones!’ They were all screaming so loud, the Men didn’t realize that the reason I was screaming so loud was because I was fighting how much each shift wanted to come out and either flee or destroy.” Bilbo looked very old as he admitted what happened to him.

“What finally happened?” Gloin asked and Bilbo’s eyes had a haunted look before simply saying

“They burned.” No one had to ask what Bilbo meant; they could imagine Bilbo manipulating the very fire those Men had built to heat their weapons to torture Bilbo with to kill them. Bilbo then grabbed his dry shirt and ran off. Kili tried to follow, only for Bofur to say

“Let him go lad, he’ll be back before long; he’s been thrown for a bigger loop than any of us. After all, we all knew that Bilbo hated Men, we just didn’t know the full reason as to why.”

“And what, pray tell, is a bigger loop than finding out a comrade and friend was brutally tortured for something he can’t control, not to mention something that has saved his life and ours?!” Dwalin asked, dutifully ignoring the voice that viciously whispered in his head ‘You’ve changed your tune about the Halfling since Rivendell, haven’t you?’ ‘Shut up!’ Dwalin whispered back harshly ‘So I’m weary of strangers, not even Bilbo faulted me for that! And Bilbo is no Halfling!’

“He’s got friends who care enough about him that they’d hunt down those who hurt him like what? Twenty years ago?”

“Longer than that, my dear Bofur; Bilbo lost his parents when he was twelve, he left the Shire about three months after that and he returned when he was seventeen. I believe he spent a year and a half to two years with Radagast, and three years and five months with the Elves. Bilbo is currently about fifty years old.” Gandalf explained and they all went rather pale as they realized it was closer to forty years ago that it had happened.

“Why would they do such a horrible thing? How could they?” Ori asked and it was Dori who replied in a saddened voice

“Men and others are terrified of what they don’t understand, and what scares them makes them angry because they don’t like admitting they’re afraid to something, so they try to destroy it. Only, Bilbo turned out to be the one doing the destroying.” Dori said and the others nodded, and proceeded to skin they’re kills, putting them in the sacks Bilbo had enchanted so they would stay fresh for as long as they needed. They did a bit of scavenging and were able to find a large amount of edible apples, nuts and berries that they could throw in the sacks as well. They had just finished doing all this when night fell and a silver Warg cautiously came into camp carrying a large amounts of dead rabbits on his back. No one said anything as they ate, until Nori asked, in an effort to lighten the mood

“Bilbo, you said that shifts in the same family can talk to each other, so, does that mean you can talk to wild animals as well?”

“To an extent; it wouldn’t sound like Westron to someone who isn’t trained, but you could get a general gist if you tried.”

“Do you think you could show us?” Gloin asked and Bilbo nodded before he threw his head back and let out a long, loud howl. They all waited but there was no other sound, so Bilbo tried again. This time, as Bilbo finished, a few more howls joined in and everyone had to admit that it was pretty impressive, whilst those with canine forms could get the general idea that Bilbo had asked if this land was safe, and the wild canines all responded that the land was indeed safe because their host patrolled the land at night. 

“Wow, that’s really cool. What did they say?” Ori asked and Thorin replied

“We may rest easy tonight; our host guards these lands fiercely.” Bombur nodded then asked

“Gandalf, you described this Beorn as a skin-changer, what’s the difference between a skin-changer and a shifter?”

“Well, Bombur, to put it simply, you are all shifters, but Bilbo here is a skin-changer when he is in his Warg shift.”

“As usual, the Wizard is as clear as mud.” Gloin mumbled, but Bilbo intervened and explained

“I think what Gandalf is trying to say, is that a shifter is someone who changes their shape and personality; while in one shift, that mind takes over, man’s mind in a man’s body and dog’s mind in dog’s body for example. Then, there are skin-shifters, which is what I am for the most part, along with the Elves; we change our skins, but are so in tune with both the animal and human minds, that they keep hold of themselves without fighting their instincts. Then, there are skin-changers who sometimes have trouble controlling their animal instincts, especially in the heat of battle or a particularly good hunt.” Gandalf simply hummed as Bilbo explained before he said

“I’m not overly tired so if no one minds, I’ll take the first shift.” The others knew there would be no arguing with Bilbo, so they set off to sleep. As they all nestled into sleep, Bilbo saw that Thorin had yet to even lie down, and instead actually came over and sat beside him.

“Something the matter?”

“When you were the Black Eagle, why was I the only one who could get near you?” Bilbo gave Thorin a strange look before saying

“How should I know? Maybe the giant turkey finally calmed down and let you near him.”

“No, I don’t think that’s it; Bombur was the last one to try just moments before me, and you were certainly fonder of Bombur than you were of me, even if you were still of the opinion he had betrayed your confidence.”

“Well then, I don’t know.”

“I think you do; you always know what you’re doing on some level even in your shifts. You know and whatever it is, you’re either ashamed or, more likely, embarrassed.”

“And tell me, oh fearless leader, exactly what would I have to be embarrassed or ashamed about?”

“I think you had another flashback that night, when Azog attacked, and I think it was made all the more real by the fact that, like your mother, I have a badger shift and Azog was using a mace.” Thorin saw Bilbo stiffen before angrily getting up and moving to the edge of their camp ground where Thorin followed and watched for a few minutes as Bilbo paced back and forth (very like a tiger pacing in a cage) before saying

“You, you don’t know anything about my mother, so don’t you even begin to dare-”

“I know she loved you a great deal, enough that she hid part of who you are so that you could survive. I also know that you return that love ten-fold, and the reason you hate your race with such a passion, one that almost matches your hatred of Men I’d wager, is because they blame her for your father’s and her own deaths.”

“It wasn’t her fault! I was the one who wanted to go out that day! True, she helped convince my father of the idea, but why should she be blamed for something like that?! And of course, people love to say that if my father had married somebody respectable, his son wouldn’t have been so reckless as to have made such a request as to be so far from home on his birthday!” Thorin watched as Bilbo’s breath seemed to be catching fire, so he simply said, nonchalantly as possible,

“My mother hated my father when the first met.” At Bilbo’s confused look, Thorin nodded and carried on with

“It’s true; she thought he was a pompous, arrogant, pig headed, annoying ass of a Dwarf.”

“So, in other words, a lot like you.” Bilbo said with a smirk but Thorin refused to rise to the bait and only answered with

“Prat. Anyways, he didn’t think much of her either so whenever they ran into each other, they would fight like cats and dogs. Until one day, my father happened to see another Dwarf chatting her up and he described the feeling he felt as if dragon fire was coursing through his blood. He then realized that he was madly in love with her, and he wore her down until she agreed to marry him. My sister Dis and her husband Vili were the same way.” Thorin finished and Bilbo simply asked

“What happened to your mother and Vili?”

“My mother died when Smaug attacked and Vili was killed at Khazad-dum.”

“I’m sorry, for both you and your nephews. However, I now see a further reason to make sure you survive this mad quest; I have no doubt in my mind that, in order to get your final revenge on me from the grave, you would leave wingus and dingus in my care just so they could drive me nutters.” Thorin chuckled before saying

“Master Baggins?”

“Hmm?”

“I think that it’s a little late for that.” Thorin saw Bilbo’s smirk transform into a grin, though he wondered why Bilbo didn’t at least chuckle.

“You don’t laugh or cry much, do you?” Bilbo kept the grin, though it took on a touch of sadness as he replied

“I haven’t laughed or cried since my parents died. Truthfully, there were times when I wished I had taken Arwen’s request to heart and stayed in Rivendell; at least there, I would be able to run free instead of almost always being lock up in my skin.”

“Well, I must confess I am rather glad you declined her request.”

“Because if I had you would not have a decent burglar?”

“No, because upon getting past our differences, I find that there is actually very little of you that is not in one way or another likable. Once you get past your grouchy and grumpy demeanor of course.”

“Careful Oakenshield, you almost made a joke there.”

“Goodnight, Bilbo.”

“Goodnight…Thorin.” Thorin, however, was not able to fall asleep right away and stayed awake until Dwalin relieved Bilbo of his shift. He saw Bilbo change into his tiger shift, feeling a moment of relief that the fur was still bright orange and not quite yet fading into white, before settling down. Part of him was irritated that Bilbo still slept away from the group, but he was happy to note it wasn’t as bad as it had been before; he was a bit closer. He was made even happier when Bilbo was joined by a lion, a panther, a hyena, an elk and a moose. The last thing he saw however was a pika running over and curling in between Bilbo and Bofur. The next morning, they wasted no time in arriving at Beorn’s, only to find out something rather disheartening; Beorn did not like Dwarves.

“You did not tell me that your ‘friends’ were Dwarves.” Beorn said and even if Bilbo was deaf, you could feel the hatred in his voice as much as hear it.

“My friend, we only need a few hours to rest and then we shall be out of your hair.” Gandalf said, trying to win him over, but they could see he was not budging.

“Dwarves have no respect for the lives they deem beneath them, they are also greedy and have no respect for the earth that give them life and so much more.” As Thorin opened his mouth, and no doubt was about to say something very insulting that would kill any chance they could possibly have of receiving assistance, a small noise stopped him and drew Beorn’s attention. Bilbo’s hand was covering his eyes and he appeared to be fighting back tears. Beorn went over and kneeled before Bilbo.

“Why are you so sad?”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry; I don’t mean to behave so horribly. It’s just, we’ve had a long journey and we barely get two minutes to breathe between the Orcs, Trolls, Goblins and Stone Giants. I’m afraid that it has all finally come to a head. I’ll be fine in a moment though.” Bilbo said as he sniffed and looked up at Beorn.

“It sounds like you have a good story to tell; I will trade you a night of safety for the story.” A look of utter relief washed over Bilbo’s face before he appeared to compose himself and said

“Thank you.”

“What is your name, little bunny?” Everyone saw Bilbo’s eye twitch at the nickname, and made sure to never call him that name; Bilbo would probably break their noses.

“Bilbo, Bilbo Baggins, at your service.” The Dwarves all saw Beorn’s eyes widen before saying

“You are the son of the badger and the bunny?” A confused look crossed over Bilbo’s face before he cautiously asked

“You knew my mother and father?”

“It would appear, Little Bunny that you and I will have a few stories to share between the two of us.” As Beorn led the way back to his house, the Dwarves all heard Bilbo say to Thorin

“You owe me so big for that one, Oakenshield; I’ve never had to act so pitifully in my life before this moment!” Thorin only nodded before moving with the others. It was strange, but for the brief moment in which it had looked like Bilbo was actually crying, each of the Dwarves had felt a surge of protectiveness, as if wanting to get rid of that which made their burglar cry. Later that night, after Bilbo had spent all day telling Beorn about their adventure so far, and Beorn told him about the adventures he had had with Bilbo’s mother, Bilbo rejoined the Company. 

“Because we are so exhausted, and I wove a good story we may stay for the night; because I am my mother's son, we may stay for three days to fully regain our strength. He also had quite a bit to say about his adventures with my mother.” The others wanted to talk to Bilbo, but thought that he may want to keep such things to himself, so Bofur asked

“Well, we were just talking about what each of us fancies, so why don't you tell us what you fancy?” Bilbo looked confused before asking

“What I fancy?”

“You know, blonde hair or brown hair, crystal clear blue eyes or deep, warm brown eyes, big breasts or small breasts, big co-” Bofur went on, with Ori getting redder and redder before Bilbo interrupted

“Alright! Alright! I get the point!” Bilbo listened as the others all laugh at his apparent discomfort (even though it was more for Ori), but he did not notice how three Dwarves listened very intently to what he had to say.

“Not that I see it as any of your business, but I have no true preference; I like blondes and brunettes, blue eyes and brown eyes.” 

“Same for breasts?” Nori asked with a chuckle, to which Bilbo simply shook his head and said 

“I never really thought about size in those respects, but breast size would hardly matter to me; I've always found the women in the Shire to be harping busy bodies that only wish to spread gossip, and while my position might appear appealing, my general attitude and complete disinterest in changing who and what I am for anyone makes most of the females uninterested in carrying on my ‘soiled blood’. Any who might be willing to overlook my demeanor and attitude are my Took cousins as well as the Brandybucks, and they're all either married, engaged or too young for me to see them as anything else than little girls.” They had all frozen when Bilbo said 'soiled blood', but none made any comments. 

“Well, what about males then?” Dori asked, and though he knew he had surprised the others by joining such a conversation, he couldn't abide the thought of Bilbo being all alone for over thirty years.

“Same general thing, but if I ever did wish to find someone to have as a constant companion, it probably would be a male, if only so they didn't keep screaming every time I took out my weapons to polish and sharpen them.” Bilbo said and many of the older ones were upset he thought of it as companionship, not love.

“Well, uh, what about, you know, what you like?” Nori asked, trying to distill the tension in his usual manner with Bofur.

“What are you talking about now? I told what I physically like and you can probably tell what kind of mind set I like.”

“Yeah, yeah, but do like to give or receive, be tied down or tie your partner down, do you-”

“If you are asking how I like to fuck, I don't know; I've never had sex and before you ask, no, I have not even been kissed.”

“Not even once?” Bombur asked in surprise and Bilbo just shook his head before replying

“You remember, I was seventeen when I eventually returned to the Shire; Hobbits come of age at 33 and all that was simply another 16 years of me solidifying my reputation as ‘Mad Baggins’ something that would hardly have them lined up out the door of the Hobbit with a claymore in the house. And as I said, I would hardly mate with someone I didn't at least find attractive and, more importantly, tolerable.”

“And there aren't tolerable beauties in the Shire?” Dwalin asked to which Bilbo shrugged and said

“There are, but nothing like say Fili, Kili or Thorin.” Everyone was silent as Bilbo said this and the shock was almost tangible.

“You think my nephews and I handsome, Master Burglar?” Thorin asked, finally joining the conversation, and Bilbo looked at him like he was mental.

“Yeah; I'm a virgin, not blind and certainly not dead yet, though that dragon may change things when we get there. I can admit when I believe someone to be attractive.” Before anyone could say anything, Kili stood, walked over to Bilbo and said in a melodramatic voice

“Well, to be your age and never even kissed is a crime too great for this beauty to let stand!”

“Don't you d-” Before Bilbo could finish; Kili sealed his mouth over Bilbo's and kissed him with just the tiniest bit of tongue. When he finally ended the kiss, Kili could feel the death glares on the back of his neck given to him by his brother and uncle, but they didn't seem half as frightening as the evil smirk that suddenly appeared on his face.

“Make your peace with your God Kili.”

“Why?” Kili asked nervously as he started to back up, away from Bilbo.

“Because I'm going to kill you!” Bilbo said as he jumped and changed into a tiger while Kili twisted his body whilst shifting into his new panther shift and running off.

“Remember to stay inside the house! Gandalf told us Beorn patrol these grounds in his bear shift and we don’t know how he’d react to a strange tiger and panther wandering his grounds!” Balin said as the two big cats chased each other, with Kili staying out of Bilbo's reach with his more slender and flexible body. After the third time around, Bilbo stopped mid chase, switched to his weasel shift and ran up a pole to get to the rafters above and waited for Kili to come back, which he did not ten minutes after Bilbo had climbed up. As Kili changed back, he said

“I guess I was lucky enough to lose the pissed off tiger; I hope I'm right in believing he has too much honor to strangle me in my sleep. Ah!” Kili screamed as Bilbo suddenly dropped on him from above and as Bilbo kept Kili disoriented in his weasel shift, he quickly shifted back and held Kili in a secure headlock.

“Ever kiss me again without my permission Kili, son of Vili, and I will put you through such a training exercise that Dwalin's will look like a bloody tea party. Do I make myself clear?”

“Transparently.” Kili wheezed out before he was let go.

“By the way, as my father always told me, no tongue on the first date, and you kiss on the lips on the second date.” Bilbo said with a grin that bordered on flirtatious before going off for the night.

“Well now, isn't he really starting to come out of his shell at last?” Bofur said and the others all nodded before they too went off to sleep, though Thorin, Balin and Dwalin stayed up for a bit longer to talk about what Bilbo had done and said.

Next Day After Breakfast

“Last night, after you all went to sleep, Balin, Dwalin and I were talking about a few things, one of the most important being how dangerous Bilbo is in a fight.”

“Not to be rude or anything, Thorin, but we already knew that.” Gloin said and the others all nodded before Dwalin said

“Yes, but last night Bilbo showed his resourcefulness; when he saw that he could not catch Kili in his tiger shift, he changed tactics in the blink of an eye, switched to his weasel shift, and ambushed Kili. Therefore, we’ve decided to see full on just what Bilbo can do, in all his styles.”

“Wait a minute, you want me to fight all thirteen of you, at the same time?!” Bilbo asked, looking quite shocked.

“Aye; you incorporate many different styles of fighting; you use your weapons, you use your hands and feet, magic, your shifts. Fighting against you is like fighting against at least five different people.” Balin explained but Bilbo said

“Well, thank you for your vote of confidence, but if I’m going to be ambushed by you lot all at once, please allow me an hour to prepare.” Bilbo said and the others all nodded before Bilbo continued with

“I’m also going to put a spell on all of our weapons so that we can use our weapons without any of us getting seriously injured; the most any of us will get are cuts that will barely break the skin. However, I think we should agree that if I am able to land a blow that would kill you without the spell, you stay down; we are still healing and I would prefer not using too much energy on Dwarves too stubborn to stay down. Can we agree to this?” Bilbo asked and it was Thorin who said

“Acceptable; once Bilbo puts you sufficiently on the ground, you stay on the ground, out of the way until either he is on the ground or we all are. Bilbo, go make your preparations; rest assured, no one will bother you.” Bilbo nodded before leaving the house.

“So, who wants to bet how many of us will be needed to take down Bilbo?” Fili asked, but Bofur, Bifur and Nori all looked a little uncertain.

“I don’t know Fili; when the three of us took him on, none of us landed so much as a scratch, and that was without any spell work on Bilbo’s part.” Nori explained and Bifur reached for his nose as Bofur cradled his head as the three remembered the last time they took on Bilbo.

“Well yeah, but that was only three of you, not to mention it was before any of us had seen Bilbo fight. All thirteen of us, and knowing his tricks? We’ll be fine.” But only some shared Fili’s confidence; last night just proved to them that Bilbo could adapt very quickly, and they hoped they could adapt as quickly.

One Hour Later

Bilbo was doing his best to keep all thirteen Dwarves in his sight as they formed a loose circle around him, trying to box him in. He had a pretty good feeling that the younger ones and those who hadn’t gone up against him would try and rush him, whilst the older, more experienced warriors would wait and see just what he did. He took a deep breath, cleared his mind, and listened as Ori tried to sneak up on him with Dwalin’s second hammer, Keeper. Without so much as a by-your-leave, Bilbo grabbed the slingshot Ori himself had given him earlier, grabbed a stone out of a pouch attached to his hip, took aim and hit Ori square in the head. As Ori was disoriented, Bilbo punched him hard in the stomach before grabbing his arm and hurling him over his shoulder.

“You Dwarves should leave sneaking about to Elves and Hobbits.” The others each had a go, but Bilbo brought each of them down, but it wasn’t until Dori and Nori that it looked like Bilbo really had to try; Dori threw his bolas at Bilbo, hoping to ensnare him, and as Bilbo jumped to avoid it, he found Nori’s mace at his back, which had him doing a summersault straight towards Dori who now had his sword out. However, just before Bilbo landed in front of Dori, he regained control, and used the momentum he had gained to tackle Dori to the ground, before jumping off of him, again knocking the wind out of Dori. As Bilbo turned, the grin on his face was one that screamed of how much fun he was having, he drew his twin hooks and said

“Now that’s more like it! Dori, I hope you will show me how to make a bolas; it really seems like my kind of weapon.” Thorin and Dwalin, at Balin’s advice, along with Balin himself had yet to join the fight, just watching Bilbo as he weaved and dodged as he lost some of his weapons such as his targe, his daggers, his hammer and his spear. They then watched as Bilbo successfully disarmed both Dori and Nori and they then watched as the two fell into a pitfall, knocking both out. There was now only the three of them, along with Fili and Kili, though those two did not last much longer; they tried charging as a pair, only to be tripped as Bilbo tossed a lasso around their legs and tightened it. As the boys tried to regain their balance, Bilbo shifted to his tiger shift, grabbed his end of the rope in his mouth, and then used the rope to tie up the boys. He then nudged the boys over into the pitfall, where they landed on Nori and Dori. He then shifted back and faced the three remaining Dwarves.

“It would appear you have a new weapon, Master Baggins. You were very productive in the hour we gave you; maybe that was a mistake.”

“Well, you never said that I could not lay some traps. The odds weren’t exactly favourable at 13:1; I just evened them out a bit.” Bilbo was obviously sizing them up, as they had been sizing him up, and neither side was certain on what should be done; Bilbo had been able to take down each who had gone up against him, but they were not the seasoned warriors that Dwalin, Balin, and Thorin were. Bilbo knew now he was going up against warriors that were the muscle, the brains, and the heart respectively, of the company, even though Dori was physically stronger, Dwalin was the one who could last longer. Bilbo again took another deep breath, cleared his mind and acted with a few tricks he had never done before, but he knew the principles behind them; he and Arwen had talked about them whilst he was in Rivendell. Whilst he had been preparing for battle, he had pulled some of his loose feathers out and coated them in some of his venom (which had turned out to be a very powerful paralytic, as he had found out when he shifted back from his black eagle shift the day before yesterday). He had also used a trick he had learned from Legolas all those years ago when they had both been in Rivendell; a weapon referred to as a Black Egg, something that was usually a hollowed out bird egg, but he had used a spell to make a fragile kind of clay and then filled it with ground up sand and gravel. He knew that he wanted to face Thorin last, so he was trying to decide if it would be better to take out Balin or Dwalin first, brain or brawn; no brainer. He took two of his feathers and launched them too fast for anyone to see and one hit Balin near his throat, who then dropped like a stone.

“Burglar, what did you do to my brother?” Dwalin asked as he and Thorin took offensive positions and ran towards Bilbo who went on the defense as soon as their swords/axes hit his hooks.

“He’ll be fine in a few hours; I took a few of my feathers and coated them in my snake shift’s venom.” He said as he blocked a blow from Thorin, who thankfully wasn’t using Orcrist just yet.

“You just gave him some of your venom?!” Dwalin shouted as he tried to hit Bilbo who dodged.

“Relax; I watered it down so that all he experiences is the paralysis; if I hadn’t, he would actually be in a lot of pain.” Bilbo said Dwalin tried to hit Bilbo only to be blocked by the long side of the blade, he then pulled out one of his Black Eggs, crushed it in his hand and blew it in Dwalin’s face. Then, as he was distracted, he used the hook part to trip Dwalin and, as Dwalin flailed, he finished with a nerve attack. As he stood however, he cried out as Thorin slashed his arm with his axe.

“Damn but I’m glad I did that spell; that could have taken my arm off!” Bilbo said as he held the arm, dropping his hooks; now he was in trouble with his only close range weapon being the Elf blade.

“As it is only the two of us left, and it is thanks to you that I have my own shield, I will allow you to retrieve your shield whilst I get my nephews, along with Dori and Nori, out of your pitfall trap, as I know they will want to see this. However, you shall only use your Elf blade and shield; no daggers, hammers, magic or katars.”

“You’re a hard man to deal with Thorin Oakenshield, but I really need my shield if I’m going to be using that infernal letter opener against Orcrist, so I agree.” Bilbo said as he got up to get his targe and Thorin got his family out of the hole, who then moved Balin and Dwalin off the field.

“Ready, little scorpion?”

“I guess Nori regained consciousness, huh?”

“That would be correct. Now, ready?” Bilbo took a breath, and then entered his stance; it was an interesting match to watch as the two went up against each other. Thorin was older, had fought in an actual war and was much stronger with a greater reach, but Bilbo was light on his feet, cunning and was quick in the head. Another thing Thorin appreciated with Bilbo was that Bilbo was not afraid to strike him with everything he had; as a Dwarf of royal blood, some were afraid to strike him with everything they had. Truth be told, ever since the Great East Road, Thorin had wanted to pit his strength, reach and experience against Bilbo’s grace, finesse, and instinct. With them both using their shields, they were lasting quite well, but Thorin could see Bilbo was starting to feel the fights from earlier weighing down on him.

“You appear to be tiring, little warrior but you shouldn’t feel too bad; you have taken down twelve warriors and stood a long time against me, there is no shame in admitting defeat.” Thorin said as the two were slammed against each other, but Bilbo was showing his stubbornness.

“I’m not done yet; I still have a few tricks left.”

“I doubt that; we are at a current stalemate where you are pitting your inner sense of balance against my strength, but I am not as tired as you are. Your stamina is indeed impressive, but I think that thinking up so many different strategies has finally taken its toll on you. Quite frankly, I would say it’s a safe bet that you are out of ideas.” Bilbo then activated his shield and watched as the spike went as far as it could into the oak shield, then used the momentum to heave Thorin over his head. After Thorin landed on his back, Bilbo was quite certain that he had paid him back for his own arm (which for Thorin, he was quite certain, was dislocated), though his own was a great deal more sore now thanks to his little bout of heavy lifting.

“Not quite, I’m afraid.” Bilbo said as he threw both shields to the ground, out of the way and Thorin stood up as he regained his sense of balance.

“You truly are stronger than you look.”

“Actually, it was a matter of using your weight against you; a trick Lord Elrond taught me.” Bilbo and Thorin circled each other, trying to find a weakness to the other, but Thorin knew them to be about equal; they each had a wounded arm, and whilst Thorin felt more comfortable with Orcrist than Bilbo did with his blade, Bilbo’s little maneuver showed he could easily match him in hand-to-hand combat. Bilbo then remembered something and shifted into his Warg shift, hoping he could trick Thorin as he said

“You said that this rather exhausting exercise was to test my fighting skills in all forms, so it seems only fair that we fight all ways. Not to mention, you never said anything about our shifts when we started our fight.” Thorin contemplated for a moment and Bilbo was glad Thorin could not read animal expressions. Thorin then nodded before he shifted into his wolf shift and the two charged at each other, snapping at each other before Bilbo broke away and appeared to run from the fight. If Thorin had been in his right mind, he would have found this strange, but Thorin still had trouble separating his feral mind from his logical one, and so followed Bilbo. The next sound anyone heard was a loud yelp before they heard Thorin yell. They all went running towards the sound and found Thorin dangling from a snare that kept him high above the ground.

“Neither did you say I couldn’t lead you to a trap I had set up earlier.” Bilbo said as he came back into everyone’s line of sight.

“Ugh, I don’t know just how well you would do in a war, but it’s obvious that if your opponent wishes to see the next dawn, they should give you no warning before hand or they will have their arses handed to them. Now, let me down.” Thorin ordered and Bilbo came closer, but not close enough to let him down and the others didn’t dare interfere; not when Bilbo was so large, had such strong claws, and teeth so big.

“Surely you could ask a bit more nicely than that?” Bilbo asked as he circled, and grinned as Thorin twisted his body to glare at Bilbo.

“Will you kindly let me down, you impertinent Hobbit?” Thorin growled, though many became nervous when Bilbo smirked at Thorin before saying

“Better, but if you had said please I could have let you down more gently.” Bilbo said before he reared back and bit the rope in two, letting Thorin down; whilst landing smack dab on his head. Everyone was laughing, but they soon quieted as the heard a sound they had never heard; Bilbo was laughing!

“Oh, I can’t remember the last time I had so much fun!” Bilbo said and they all believed him whilst agreeing; the fight had indeed been fun for them as well.

“I see Little Bunny has made good use of the rope I gave him.” Beorn said as he and Gandalf appeared.

“Rope you gave him?” Thorin asked as his nephews helped clean him of the dirt he had gathered. Beorn nodded as everyone gave Bilbo his weapons back.

“When I saw him preparing for a battle against thirteen seasoned opponents, I decided to see how well he would do with a weapon his mother would often use. It was quite the joke between the two of us how she finally ‘caught’ her husband. I also gave him permission to plant little traps so long as he fixed them when he was done.”

“And I will I promise, just as soon as I catch my breath.” Bilbo said as he did indeed try to catch his breath, though it was hampered by the fact that whenever he looked at the Line of Durin, he broke out laughing again. That night, after Bilbo fixed everything and gave everyone potions for pain and any lingering nausea, Bilbo looked a great deal younger as, though his smiles were not as big as the ones he had given earlier, they were far bigger than the ones they had received so far.


	9. Bilbo and the Dwarves Enter Mirkwood

Chapter 9

On the last day that they would be spending at Beorn’s, the Dwarves and Bilbo all spent making sure they would have everything for when they went into Mirkwood. They were also making sure their weapons were all sharp and in shape. Gloin had also spent some time in helping Bilbo with the axes they had given him to replace his chakram, whilst Kili, Fili and Thorin all tried to help Bilbo get used to his Elf-blade.

“Maybe it would help you feel a kinship with your weapon if you named it.” Fili suggested as Thorin again disarmed a frustrated Bilbo, who had a large bee sitting on his shoulder, looking quite amused and happy from her position.

“Like what? ‘Annoying one that killed its owner due to its uselessness’?” Bilbo snarked as he threw the stupid blade away from himself and sat on a nearby rock. Kili picked up the blade as his brother and uncle both sat near Bilbo.

“That’s a bit of a mouthful for such a small blade, don’t you think?” Kili joked as he held the blade and tried to think of an appropriate name.

“We’ll leave the naming ceremony for later, in the meantime, why don’t you work on your axe work? That could use a little more work before we go into Mirkwood tomorrow.”

“Agreed, I’ll also check with Beorn, and make sure we’ve got all the supplies he’s willing to give us.”

“Good idea; Beorn certainly likes you a lot better than he likes any of us.” Fili said as Bilbo got up, the little bee still refusing to move from her comfortable spot on his shoulder. As Bilbo left, Fili turned to his uncle.

“I know it’s technically not my business, but when were you going to talk to Bilbo?”

‘About what, pray tell?” Thorin asked as he stood.

“The fact that you and he are One?” Kili asked, showing his usual lack of tact, which made Fili sigh and pinch the bridge of his nose.

“We are no such thing.” Thorin said with clenched teeth.

“Right, and the fact that you and he are acting the exact same way grandfather and grandmother acted towards each other before they got together, which is also the same way mother and father acted towards each other before they got together, has absolutely no meaning, right?” Fili asked as he looked at his uncle, who huffed before walking away.

“Well, one way they’re perfectly matched for each other; they can match each other in stubbornness.” Kili sighed as he watched his uncle walk away.

“Not to mention temper; we’re going to have to think of something to let them see that they really are meant for each other.” Fili added as they got up to give Bilbo back his sword and to plot on ways to bring the tiger and the wolf together.

*****

“These ponies will help you get to Mirkwood swiftly and safely, but once you arrive at the border, be sure to send them back.” The Dwarves almost protested, but the combined glares of Bilbo and Gandalf were enough to shut them up.

“Thank you again for your hospitality and help, Master Beorn.” Bilbo said as he saddled his pony, only for Beorn to kneel so he was as close as possible to being at eye level with Bilbo as he said

“It was a pleasure to help the son of one of my dearest friends, little bunny, and before you go, I want you to have something I had made for your mother, but never got the chance to give to her.” Beorn then withdrew a carved medallion with a rooster on one side, and a badger on the other.

“As you may remember, your father was a cock, and your mother a badger; I knew that if they managed to sire any offspring, the child would truly be something special, and I have received confirmation of that over the last three days. It’s made of black walnut and the animals are cedar, a wood that when used for magical artifacts such as staffs, seeks a master with good instincts and powerful insight whilst cedar is for those with strength of character and unusual loyalty.”

“That’s Bilbo, to be sure.” Ori said and the others all nodded.

“Yes and the animals themselves are meant to have significant meaning, as the badger represents determination, a strong will, strategy, tenacity, protection, independence and confidence. Meanwhile, the cock represents a banisher of evil spirits, the arrival of light, certain regalness, martial values because of its spurs, courage because of its conduct in battle, kindness and protection as well as confidence. Ah yes, there was little doubt in my mind that their child would likely spin the Shire on its head.” Beorn said as he gave the medallion to Bilbo, who immediately put it on. Beorn then put his large hand on Bilbo’s shoulder, making sure he had Bilbo’s full attention before he continued.

“Remember to stay on the path, don’t drink the water from the rivers no matter how thirsty you are, don’t waste your arrows, and when you are done with this little foolishness, I would like to offer you a place here with me. We will spend the nights hunting Orcs and Goblins, while spending the days looking after our friends and the garden.”

“Thank you for the offer, I shall give it due consideration.” Bilbo said as he and the others all mounted their mounts. They then all took off in the direction of Mirkwood, and were silent for about ten minutes, a new record for the company, when Nori said

“Is it just me, or does everyone want our burglar to live with them?”

“Aye, first it was Lord Elrond, then Solareas, and now Master Beorn.” Bofur observed as the others all nodded.

“Do you think you’ll take any of them up on their offer Bilbo?” Ori asked.

“I think so; living in the Shire for so many years has made me as twitchy as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs; one wrong move and something will step on my tail.” Bilbo said and many of them nodded; the Shire may be all well and good for those with peaceful shifts, but for those with shifts like Bilbo’s, it was close to a nightmare.

“Any idea which one you’ll stay with?” Dori asked as he rode up beside Bilbo. Bilbo contemplated for a moment before saying

“I might stay with the Eagles; that way I can visit Arwen and Beorn equally. The problem with staying in Rivendell, is that there are more than a couple there that, like Saruman, believe Lord Elrond should have killed me long ago, and I already have to deal with that in the Shire, if I’m going to move somewhere else, it’s not going to be one paranoid place for another. And the problem with staying with Beorn, is that all of my shifts are carnivores; with the weasel being particularly bloodthirsty. No, I’m afraid staying indefinitely with Beorn would not be a very good idea at all.” Bilbo said and the rest of the ride to Mirkwood was silent, and as they neared it, Bilbo felt something cold slide down his back and settle in the pit of his stomach; Mirkwood seemed to be even worse off than Radagast had described it. What was worse, was that Bilbo could tell this was only the outskirts of the evil Radagast had warned them about; like the branches of a tree that had a terrible infection. As they all dismounted and set about unloading their horses, Gandalf suddenly came running back out of the forest yelling

“Don’t unpack my horse! There is somewhere else that I am greatly needed!”

“You’re not coming with us?” Gloin asked, and Bilbo noticed many of the Dwarves becoming nervous. But Bilbo walked over to him and asked

“You’re going to Dol-Gurdur, aren’t you?” When Gandalf nodded, Bilbo said

“Then I’m coming with you.”

“No! You are needed here, with the Company.”

“Gandalf, whatever this is, it’s so strong, that I can feel it from here. You cannot face it on your own!”

“And the Dwarves need you to make sure they get through Mirkwood in one piece! Now do as I say and stay here! Thorin, Fili, Kili, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Nori, and Ori I need to speak with all of you for a moment!” Gandalf demanded and all those that were called wasted no time in getting over to the wizard who looked ready to spit fire. As Bilbo went over to help Oin unpack his pony, Gandalf looked at each of them and said

“I called you all because apart from Thorin, who is here because he is leader of this group, you have been doing your best to help Bilbo when he was having trouble. Now, what I’m worried about is Bilbo using his magic needlessly; he can use it to help certain fruit-bearing plants heal and again bear fruit if you run out of food before you reach the other side of Mirkwood, but if he uses it too much, he will greatly exhaust himself and leave himself quite vulnerable. I am going to ask all of you to keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn’t over exert himself.” The others all nodded and therefore Gandalf bid them all farewell, hoping that they would be able to survive Mirkwood. As the Dwarves watched the last pony head back to Beorn, Thorin spoke up

“We do not know what manner of evil is in that wretched forest, but we do know that there are Elves in there, and that alone is reason enough to be cautious. Bilbo, what would you like to add?” Bilbo and a few others were shocked that Thorin would openly ask for Bilbo’s opinion on something.

“Just this, if your animal starts to speak to you, listen; they will only be as affected by the forest as you are, but it will take longer since you are more in tune with your shifts now; they can give you their strength, and in return, you give them your sense. They will help you stay sane if you let them, and I will do all I can to make sure we pass through this forest with our sanity intact as much as possible. Which for Bofur, Fili and Kili isn’t much of a promise but we make do with what we have, even if the sanity of those three combined would only just fill a thimble if in liquid form.” The Dwarves all laughed at that, and they could all appreciate what Bilbo was doing; in the forest, there probably wouldn’t be too much laughter going on, so they would savour these last moments as they should.

“Move out.” Thorin said and he didn’t begrudge them one last look at the sun before going in, as he had a feeling it would be a long time before they felt its warmth again. They walked on for quite a while, everyone on edge, because even though they didn’t have a wizards senses, they could still feel something was wrong here, and they didn’t like it one bit. When they came to a cross road, Thorin became a little nervous as he could not see the path on either side. Dwalin thumped his axes on the ground, and when they heard a shard clang instead of the muffled thump, they were about to move in that direction, when Thorin’s wolf growled lowly in his head.

“Stop! No one move! Bilbo, come here quickly!” Bilbo moved swiftly to Thorin’s side and as he arrived Thorin explained

“The wolf growled just as we were about to go down that path.”

“The wolf must be able to sense something wrong with that path; maybe we should go the other way.”

“But the path is this way.” Dwalin said and so Thorin turned to Bilbo and asked

“Do you think you could fly on ahead a bit and see if the path eventually shows itself?” Bilbo nodded and shifted, but as soon as he took flight, he immediately landed again, and was shivering for a good five minutes as Balin held him.

“What happened?” Thorin asked when Bilbo stopped shaking and hopped onto Thorin’s shoulder.

“I don’t know; as I was taking off, I felt something grip me and try to… I don’t know, but it was not a nice feeling.”

“Does this mean that we can’t shift whilst in this infernal forest?” Dwalin asked and Thorin immediately ordered some of those with smaller shifts to shift and see if they could move around.

“They don’t appear to be having any trouble.” Balin said and Bilbo concluded

“It would appear Mirkwood is a no-flying zone for guests; I’ll have to scout in my weasel shift, as the tiger and the wolf will draw too much attention.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? What if something attacks you, or you get lost?” Gloin asked and Bilbo hopped off Thorin’s shoulder and went into his bag.

“If I’m attacked, I’ll fight back, the weasel may be small, but it is in no way defenceless. As for my getting lost, this will ensure that doesn’t happen.” Bilbo then pulled out the scarf he had made, and unravelled it a bit. The others then understood his plan.

“You’re going to use the string from the scarf as a guideline back to us!” Fili said and Bilbo nodded before shifting into his weasel shift. Thorin then surprised him by tying the string around Bilbo’s middle and then just held the scarf.

“This way, if you are nearing the end and still haven’t found anything, I’ll tug you back, and if you get into a fight with one of the locals, I’ll get you out of it. If, however, you see the path, tug on your end three times, and we’ll join you.” Bilbo nodded before taking off, with Thorin keeping a good grip on the scarf as it unravelled. Finally, when the scarf was about halfway gone, he felt three sharp tugs.

“Come on, Bilbo found the path!” Thorin ordered and they all followed the string until they found the little weasel. Thorin untied him, he changed back, and they all continued walking down the path. They walked until nightfall, and Bilbo had a feeling that it was going to be pitch black when the sun fully set. Thinking on this, he approached Thorin who was talking to Dwalin and Balin.

“Do you have a moment oh valiant leader?” Bilbo asked and he had a feeling that if it wasn’t childish, he would at this moment be flicked in the head.

“I have a couple for you, oh pretentious one.”

“I was just thinking, it might be a good idea if those on watch duty were paired off whilst here; this place is giving me the creeps, so it might help us all keep our sanity if there is someone to talk to whilst being surrounded in total darkness. Not to mention we only keep our shifts to about an hour each.” Thorin thought about it for all of twenty seconds before saying

“Good idea, have you given any thought as to who should be paired with whom?”

“Well, for one, I thought Dwalin paired with Ori would be a good idea, since Ori is less afraid when Dwalin is around.”

“Determined to play matchmaker as well as burglar?” Thorin asked with a smirk on his face, to which Bilbo replied somewhat snobbishly

“I can’t imagine what you could possibly be referring to. Anyways, Fili and Kili should obviously not be together otherwise none of us will get any sleep, so I would advise sticking Kili with Balin and Fili with Dori, Oin and Bifur should be with each other seeing as how Oin can understand Iglishmêk as well as speak Old Khuzdul, Bofur and Nori can be together just so long as they keep their minds here and their tongues out of each other’s mouths. Of course if that proves to be too much to ask, we’ll simply put Nori with Dori and Bofur with Fili.”

“That’s not much of a punishment for Bofur, whilst being a heavy one for Nori.”

“I don’t think there is a way to punish Bofur sufficiently. Then again, we could put him with Gloin whilst telling Gloin that Bofur wants to hear all about his son and wife again but is too shy to ask.” Bilbo said with a sadistic smirk, and any who saw it got a cold shiver running down their backs, whilst Thorin gave a low chuckle.

“You certainly can be sadistic when you want to be.”

“Well… anyways, I thought that it would be a good idea to otherwise put Gloin with Bombur together, that way they can spend the hour talking about their respective children.” Thorin nodded and then pointed out something

“You realize that leaves you with me.”

“Oh, well if you think that’s going to be a problem you can be with Balin and I’ll go with Kili.”

“I think you and I are past our differences enough that you and I can stand guard for an hour without trying to kill each other.” Thorin said and Bilbo just nodded before saying he was going to help Bombur with supper.

“You know, I think he’d be a good leader on his own if he ever truly gave himself the chance.” Balin said as he came over.

“Balin?”

“Well, despite his rather gruff exterior he’s good with the young ones, he’s got a level head on his shoulders, he’s diplomatic and sneaky when he needs to be, whilst having a temper that could possibly compare to yours.”

“Hopefully, between the two of us, we can keep the company together whilst being stuck here.”

“Aye, but we mustn’t forget that while he has great strength of character, he is also potentially the most vulnerable of us.”

“What do you mean?” Thorin asked and had to fight a flinch when Balin gave him a look as if to ask ‘Are you really that thick?’

“The rest of us all have family here with us, whether they be our brothers, our cousins, or our nephews.” Here, Balin gave Thorin a pointed look, and Thorin began to catch on to what Balin was getting at. “But what family does our warrior burglar have? When he first came into the company, he was an outsider, and he still sees himself as such, after all, his blood family wants nothing to do with him, the Elves are all weary around him, with the exception of Lord Elrond, his children and Lindir, and probably the closest thing to a family he has are giant Eagles that make him look even tinier than usual.”

“But the company has tried to make him feel like part of it.” Thorin tried to defend, to which Balin asked

“Aye, that we have, but what part is that? He doesn’t know, and the company isn’t a hundred percent sure either. Truth be told, if we were a pack of wolves, I’d say it would be a toss-up between him and Dwalin on whom your beta would be. I’d say Bilbo is a good mixture between myself and Dwalin; he has a good dose of Dwalin’s fearlessness, but it’s tempered by my level-headedness.”

“Frankly, I think you’re right, if anything happened that would leave me incapacitated as leader, I do believe that the company would most likely look to Bilbo as leader.”

“And how does that make you feel?” Balin asked and had to hold in his chuckles at Thorin’s look.

“I would never peg you as a head shrinker Balin; truth be told, I’m not sure how to feel about that because it can easily turn around and if the company should become truly divided, half would follow me whilst the other half would follow Bilbo, and he would do what would be best for the group, which could be any number of things from taking the company back to safety, to following me to Erebor.”

“Bilbo has a strong spirit, with a great deal of courage, and if it ever came down to it, I believe he would still have his faction follow you than for no other purpose than to see where they come from. Now, I think we should tell the others about Bilbo’s plan; no doubt Nori and Bofur will be thrilled whilst Fili and Kili will be downtrodden. It shall also be interesting to see how Dori responds to Ori being paired with Dwalin.”

“Do you think he’ll put two and two together?” Thorin asked as he stood and motioned the others to gather around.

“Only if Mahal himself comes down to pound reason into his thick head would he ever see that.”

“No, I think even then he’d miss it.” As Thorin went on to explain Bilbo’s thoughts, he never heard Balin mumble under his breath

“You’d certainly know a thing or two about that wouldn’t you?” Later that night, after everyone had eaten their rations of dinner, as well as venting how some of the pairings were unfair (which quickly quieted down as both Thorin and Bilbo glared at them), Balin and Kili sat down for the first watch, making sure that whilst they talked about certain stubborn dwarves and their One’s, nothing invaded the camp.

The Following Morning

“I hope not all nights are going to be like last night whilst we’re here; I feel like I got hardly any sleep at all.” Dori complained and many nodded their agreement.

“I fear it has something to do with the fact that the forest is so dense that neither the moon nor even the stars can break through it. With no light to shine down on us, our shifts can’t help but be uneasy. The balance has been seriously disrupted here; the only light that shines here is that which is wielded by the Elves, and that has become seriously muted since Thranduil limited his guards to only protecting the kingdom itself, not the forest.” Bilbo explained and many grumbled.

“Can’t say as that surprises me; Thranduil was a rather useless king, but how do you know all that Bilbo?” Dwalin and asked and Bilbo replied

“Beorn explained many things to me whilst we rested, and we mustn’t be too hard on Thranduil; when he lost his wife at Mordor, his heart became closed off to the world.”

“I can’t feel much regret for him when he left our people to tend to their own wounds after Smaug.” Thorin said and Bilbo sighed before saying

“Thorin, from what Bifur has explained to me, what Thranduil went through when he lost his wife, is the equivalent of any of you losing your One; it consumed him to the point that he only wanted to make sure he lost no more of his kin. Especially in a fight that would have had no victor but Smaug; either he would lay waste to Thranduil and his kin, or if by some miracle they destroyed Smaug, it would be a pyrrhic victory, much like your victory at Moria. In the end, you did win, but how many of your kin did you lose? And would you really have accepted aid from him after his initial ‘betrayal’ of not risking his kin to get rid of a vicious dragon?” Bilbo asked and many could see where Bilbo was coming from, but that didn’t stop Gloin from asking

“And you think that justifies doing nothing?”

“Of course it doesn’t; it was understandable then, but it isn’t now. In no way is what he’s doing now right. By just protecting your own little spot on the map, all you are doing is delaying the inevitable. It reminds me of something I often tell the young Hobbits that want to actually hear about Eagles and Elves and Goblins; you see, Hobbits are intrinsically afraid of water and so we don’t swim much, unless you’re a Brandybuck of course. But some don’t build their houses as soundly as my father did, and the ones who build near our river can develop bad leaks in their cellars; leaks so bad that they practically flood the cellar. Now, they have three choices; the ineffective choices are they can be full on cowards and leave, or they can be fools and continually just dish the water out. Now, the final choice is what should be done; you have to brave the water, find the leak, and put a stop to it once and for all.” Seeing that some had a confused expression he searched his mind until he said

“Think of it like this; you’ve broken your arm so badly that the bone has completely separated. Now, of course you have to clean the wound of infection, and dress it and all, but you also have to eventually actually reset the bone. You are already in great pain, and you know that resetting the bone will only increase that pain, but if you want it to heal properly, you are going to have to do it or it will never heal. That is what Thranduil needs to realize before all that is left of his kingdom is the memory.” The others all nodded and were in contemplation until Ori squeaked.

“Ori! What’s wrong?” Dori asked as he and Dwalin came rushing over to make sure he was alright.

“I saw one of the plants move all by itself!”

“Ori, plants can’t move on their own; you must have imagined it.” Dori tried to soothe but Ori wasn’t having it and kept insisting on it, until Kili yelled

“Fili, watch out!” Kili then pushed his brother away as a long thick vine shot at him, only for the vine, and the resulting spike that lay at its tip, to go straight through his chest.

Author’s note:  
I’m back. Please don’t kill me or you’ll never see how this ends. ;)


	10. Further Into Mirkwood

Chapter 10

No one moved for a couple of seconds, so deep was their shock until Fili yelled

“KILI!” Thorin then ran forward and used Orcrist to slice the plant so that only the tip that was lodged in his nephew’s chest. As he went to remove it, Bilbo shouted

“NO! If you remove the plant outright, he’ll bleed out in seconds! The plant is slowly killing him, but it gives me a chance to try and heal him.” Bilbo then ran over and started trying to channel his magic through a healing conduit like Radagast had taught him. Unfortunately, because his heart had been filled with hatred for so long, he was having trouble healing the area. In his frustration at his uselessness, Bilbo did something he had not done in many years; he cried. As the tears fell down his cheeks and landed on Kili’s body, all were surprised as a blue glow enveloped the wound, pushed the thorn out, and sealed the skin that had been punctured.

“Bilbo, you did it!” Fili shouted as he held his brother.

“But, I don’t understand, my magic wasn’t responding the way it should.” Bilbo tried to say as Kili stood up, looking none the worse for wear except his tunic had a large hole in it, and was surprised when Balin held a vial under his eyes, catching his tears.

“I believe we can attribute Kili’s miraculous recovery to these tears.” Balin said as he corked the vial and gave it to Oin.

“What do you mean Balin?” Bombur asked as Bilbo tried to calm himself, none missing Thorin putting his hand on Bilbo’s shoulder.

“The Black Eagle, before it became extinct thanks to the foolishness of Men, was a distant, more neutral version of the dark creature the phoenix*. As such it had the ability of healing tears that could be called upon if ones they trusted implicitly were on the brink of death. As we all know, Bilbo trusts Kili perhaps even more greatly than he trusts Gandalf, and that is saying something. As such, with Kili being mortally wounded, Bilbo used a gift from his shift he didn’t even know he had. You see Bilbo, the reason you couldn’t cry after your parents deaths for all those years was not because you had become emotionally cold as you had presumed; it was because it took a lot to make a Black Eagle cry since the tears could heal and were not something to be wasted.”

“That being said, I believe it would be prudent that everyone be extra careful walking through this forest; we cannot rely on Bilbo’s healing tears to save us and what Balin secured should be saved in the case of an absolute emergency. Bilbo, should we take a moment to collect ourselves?” Thorin asked and Bilbo shook his head.

“No, with all respect to Kili and his near death experience, we should not lose too much sunlight resting since the longer we’re in this forest, the more chance that what happened can happen again. Kili, can you carry on?” Bilbo asked and Kili replied

“Actually I’m feeling fine; if it wasn’t for the hole in my tunic and jacket, I wouldn’t even know that I had just been stabbed by a plant.” Many were shocked as Kili had looked like he was having trouble breathing. Nonetheless they could understand Bilbo’s concerns and so they kept moving, but now they were all highly aware of the plants around them, knowing that any one of them could suddenly move and end them.

“Balin, how do you know so much about Black Eagles?” Bofur asked in an effort to break free from the silence that was so muffling.

“Well, back before Thorin or even Thrain were born, my mother told me of times where the Black Eagles roamed the skies freely. They were guardians of the Dwarf kingdoms and repelled many invading forces. Some say the Eagles would even allow certain Dwarves to ride them and see Middle Earth from their view-point. Then, sadly, after Mordor, Men looked at certain animals with distrust, among them, the Black Eagles. And, in their fear and idiocy, they did something truly foolish. You see, Black Eagles laid their eggs in a hidden place that they all flew to once every ten years. The Men were waiting for the females that were heavy with eggs waiting to be laid, and the males that had flown on ahead to keep their eyes out for danger. The Men let the males go through first, knowing it was more important to get the females and their eggs than the males. There were no survivors.” Balin finished on a sad note and everyone looked quite sad at the revelation that Men had done so much damage to a species that didn’t deserve it, much like snakes.

“Thorin! I can’t see the path!” Dwalin shouted, causing both Thorin and Bilbo to come running, with Bilbo pulling out his scarf.

“Same procedure as before?” Thorin asked as he accepted the scarf.

“Yes, though this time I’ll be going in my snake shift; it still felt as if the forest was trying to get rid of me for some reason. At least in the snake shift I know I’ll be able to handle anything that comes my way; I may be a big snake, but I’m remarkably fast as well.”

“Are you sure that that’s such a good idea? You haven’t had as much experience in that shift as the others.” Gloin pointed out and many agreed, but those who didn’t could understand Bilbo’s reasoning; the weasel was a fierce animal, but even it had limits. They doubted there was much in this forest that could take on a snake Bilbo’s size. Bilbo had transformed at this point, and had allowed Thorin to wrap the thread around Bilbo’s middle and they watched as the large snake slithered off in the direction that did not make the wolf, badger or tiger growl in warning.

“Is it just me, or does Bilbo look larger than last we saw him?” Nori asked

“Well, the only time we actually saw him, he was attacking the Goblin king; he seemed to be moving too fast to get an appropriate look at him to gauge his size.” Dori pointed out and many agreed, but Nori still maintained that Bilbo actually was larger than last time. Thorin had them moving in the direction Bilbo had gone once he received the three tugs. That night, Bilbo was able to patch up the holes in Kili’s tunic as well as the one in his jacket, and if anyone thought they saw Bilbo’s hands shake as he covered the only remaining proof that a few hours ago Kili had been stabbed, well, that simply had to be a trick of the light, didn’t it? What wasn’t a trick of the light however was when most of the Dwarves and Bilbo were awoken by,

“I know you took it thief! Now give it back or I’ll pound you into the dirt!” Even Oin was awoken by Dwalin’s shouting

“Nori, if you could please just return whatever it is to Dwalin-” Dori was interrupted however by Nori saying

“I didn’t take his lousy knife; I’ve got plenty of good ones, I don’t need his rubbish!” Upon learning what the argument was about, many went on about their usual morning chores, though Bilbo quickly kicked into high gear when the two grabbed each other. With Thorin’s help, he managed to separate the two and, with him holding Nori and Thorin holding Dwalin, he said

“Alright you two blockheads, that’s enough! Now what in Mahal’s name are you two arguing about this time?” Oddly, none seemed shocked at Bilbo acting more like a Dwarf in this minute with his choice of words.

“None of your business!” Dwalin growled and Thorin had to fight the urge to punch his friend at the disrespect he was showing Bilbo (he told himself it was because Bilbo was the reason they weren’t wondering around lost and had, quite possibly, replaced Dwalin as his second in command. Not to mention it was thanks to Bilbo that Kili was alive).

“Yeah Bilbo, let us deal with this our own way!”

“And have the two of you waste resources as Oin and I waste daylight hours patching the two of you up in the aftermath? Not on your life Nori! Now one of you tells us what you’re fighting about or I’ll put you on the ground and you can deal with the bumps and bruises until we stop tonight!” When it looked like Dwalin might still try and argue, Thorin glared at him and Dwalin thought he could see the badger, an animal that even a bear would think twice about messing with, prowling just behind the sapphire orbs.

“The thief stole one of my knives.” When Nori went to deny it, Bilbo pinned him with a glare but calmly asked

“Did you take the knife, Nori?”

“No! On my honor, Bilbo, I didn’t!”

“He’s lying! What would a thief know about honor?!”

“Dwalin! I am handling this and if you don’t let me, I shall stick you near Gloin and you can listen to him go on about his wife and son and if I hear you complain for even a moment, I will make you wish that Gloin kept going on about them!” Bilbo whispered that last bit and many knew the threat had teeth.

“Now, Bofur, can you honestly confirm that while the two of you were awake, you never saw him go near Dwalin’s palette?”

“Oh aye; you see, we took over from Balin and Kili, who had taken over from Ori and Dwalin who had had the first shift after everyone had gone to bed last night. Nori and I were talking in low tones, keeping an eye out seeing as how you had threatened us quite severely about what would happen if we didn’t pay attention. So naturally we did our best to keep a watch out even though it was pitch black so that you couldn’t even see your hand in front of your face. Still, we kept our ears pealed in case a noise occurred when it shouldn’t have, which we almost certainly would have considering how quite it was-”

“Why did I do this to myself? Bofur! Yes or no, did Nori go near Dwalin’s palette?” Bilbo asked and a few chuckled at his rhetorical question.

“No, he stayed near me all through our shift until Fili and Dori relieved us.”

“Thank you, now, follow up query; do you know if Nori got up during the night?”

“No, he didn’t; because of how cold it is in this forest, we sleep side-by-side and he never got up all night.”

“Thank you, now, Fili, Dori, did you see or hear anyone get up in the middle of the night?”

“Only Ori; it looked like he had to answer nature’s call during the night.” Dori said, which prompted everyone to look at Ori, who was looking down and blushing.

“Ori, did you borrow one of Dwalin’s knives?” Thorin asked gently, knowing that Ori would never steal something unless it was very important.

“I’m sorry Master Thorin, Bilbo; I didn’t steal it, honest! Just, like Dori said, I had to answer nature’s call during the night, and… well I was worried about getting lost because I couldn’t see anything so… and I saw one of Dwalin’s knives lying on the ground so I thought I could use it to mark my path and… I was honestly going to put it back! Just, I was so tired I must not have realized I forgot to do it and the next thing I knew, Dwalin was yelling at Nori and I wanted to say something but…” Bilbo came over and put a hand on Ori’s shoulder so Ori stopped babbling. As Ori went to give back the knife, Dwalin raid a hand saying

“Keep it lad; you may need it again before we get out of this wretched forest and it would be better if we didn’t go through this again or Bilbo might just murder me.”

“The idea has merit Master Dwalin, but it would take too long; no I would just poison you with red kidney beans.” Bilbo said with a smile, confusing all but Oin and Bombur.

“When improperly cooked, red kidney beans cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhea which can take one to three hours to show up. It’s non-fatal and usually resolves itself within a few hours; a perfectly nasty little poison that doesn’t do any real lasting damage but will put the victim in a bit of agony for a few hours.”

“Keeping that in mind, as I said before, this forest is going to be playing on your nerves all whilst we’re here, so keep your tempers in check or Thorin and I will keep them in check for you! Oin and I will waste neither resources nor time patching you idiots up if you let your tempers overrun you.” Bilbo growled out and many knew he meant business so they all resolved to try and keep their tempers in check around Bilbo. As Bilbo accepted his breakfast from Bombur, and he sat with Kili on his right and Thorin on his left, with Fili ending on his far left, Bilbo heard Thorin say

“Nothing like a gentle word to the troops to ease morale.”

“Shut up and eat of your breakfast.” It was a testament to how bad the boys were laughing that neither noticed the twin glares being directed at them. This kind of thing went on for several days; Bilbo and Thorin seemed to be breaking up fights every other day, with Fili and Kili trying to help calm everyone down. One night, Bilbo confided to the three that it seemed like pushing a boulder up a hill, with how useless it seemed. To which Kili had replied something along the lines that at least none of them were dead. Still, Bilbo and Thorin could both see how the family members were all drawing in on themselves, relying on their own family members, though what had surprised the two was when Bofur had asked Bilbo if he would be sleeping near them (the Ur family) that night and Bilbo declined, saying they slept too close to the center that in case anything attacked them, he would be in a useless position to defend.

“I hope we get out of here soon; I don’t know how much longer we can keep breaking up these squabbles without anyone getting seriously hurt, not to mention our rations are getting low. Our food and especially our water are starting to get real low.” Bilbo whispered to Thorin who nodded, trying to keep his own concern off of his face at the bleak outlook.

“I know; I thought for a moment that we wouldn’t be able to break up that fight last night between Gloin and Bombur. It was a good thing your tiger shift was enough to scare Bifur, Bofur and Bombur into staying back and backing off.”

“We should also be thankful that neither Oin nor Gloin thought to go Oliphant on us or there would have been a case of leader wolf pancakes on the menu.” Bilbo said with a smirk which Thorin copied as he gave a small chuckle.

“I agree, however, the sooner we get out of here, the better. Do you have any idea of how far away we are from the other side?”

“With any luck we’re almost out; we’ve been here for about a week and a half.”

“Can your shifts tell you anything?”

“No, it’s just feelings right now, as if the darkness of this forest is trying to separate two halves of my soul; it’s somewhat disconcerting.”

“I’m beginning to wish Gandalf had let you go with him; it seems like this place is bearing down especially hard on you, as if it knows you are the reason we are still together and sane.”

“Do not think so little of yourself; you’ve done a good job in making sure they don’t kill themselves.”

“And yet if not for you, Kili would be dead and I would be a broken man; my nephews are the last my direct family, and if anything happened to them I don’t think I’d be able to cope.”

“Well, with that in mind, I begin to understand why Gandalf ordered me to stay; apart from Kili, if I hadn’t of been here you might not have listed to the wolf and the badger who have told you more than once that the forest is attempting to play tricks on you.” Thorin nodded knowing that despite how worried he was over Bilbo’s health, he couldn’t in good conscience be sorry that Bilbo stood beside him now.

“Bilbo, come here quick! There’s something strange here!” Balin shouted, causing leader and semi-advisor to quickly run up to where Balin was standing. When they stopped, Bilbo saw unusual tracks that indicated a scuffle.

“I don’t see anything Balin.” Kili quickly regretted his words when Bilbo hit him upside the head and pointed down.

“Strange; the calm set appear to be something of the deer family, then all of sudden, the tracks move wildly around, as if it were fighting something.” Bilbo noted as he and Thorin kneeled down to get a closer look at the tracks.

“Maybe a predator got it.” Fili offered.

“There’s no doubt about that, the question is what kind of predator did this? There appear to be no other tracks save for the deer’s. As if something dropped from above, wrestled with the deer, killed it, then jumped back into the air.”

“Some kind of bird?” Dwalin asked as he got a look at the tracks.

“I doubt it; birds big enough to get grab a deer swoop in and grab it, they don’t wait around for its meal to put up a fight and either lose it or get mortally wounded. Besides which, there’s no disruption of the trees of the trees overhead; for a bird to drop down then shoot back up, you’d expect to see a large number of broken branches. There are none. And that in and of itself is very troubling, as it means that whatever got the poor deer is something in the trees.” As he spoke, Ori leaned against a nearby tree, and that smallest bit of extra weight, caused a skeletal figure to dangle from the tree, sending Ori running to Dwalin.

“I’m guessing that that is the deer that made these tracks.” Thorin said, and many were disgusted at the sight, as was Bilbo, but he managed to walk over to the poor creature and examine it.

“What by the Powers that Be could have done that to the poor creature?” Bombur asked and Bilbo shrugged,

“I don’t know; it seems as if the creature has shrunk, like all the fluid has been drained from it.” Bilbo thought of all that he had learned, trying to think of an animal that drained the fluids from its prey.

“How much longer until we get out of here?” Ori asked and everyone saw he was doing his best not to show his panic, but he was failing rather spectacularly.

“Don’t worry, Ori; we’ll be out of here before we know it.” Dori tried to calm his brother as Bilbo suddenly remembered something he had read in Elrond’s library, something that made him very nervous indeed.

“Uh, Dori is right; we’ll be out of here soon and the sooner we get moving, the sooner we’ll get out of here so could everyone please resume moving? Thank you very much!” Whilst everyone worried about what could alarm Bilbo so much, they agreed with the sentiment and were quickly moving again, this time a little faster than before. Thorin, Fili and Kili all rushed to keep up with Bilbo.

“What is it Bilbo?” Fili asked

“I pray that I’m wrong, but I caught a passage in one of Lord Elrond’s books about certain creatures that drained their prey of their fluids as a method of eating them.”

“And what were those creatures?” Thorin asked

“Spiders.”

“But how could a spider drag a deer up into the trees and eat it?” Kili asked

“A normal spider couldn’t; one touched by the same evil that allowed the mountain trolls to be so brazen as to move so close to the East Road, and allowed Azog to survive after having his arm cut off, could.” That night, Thorin and the others all kept their eyes peeled not only on the ground, but on the trees as well. Problems developed however when everyone was so paranoid that none of them were falling asleep.

“Look, I know it’s hard but we’ve all got to try and get some sleep; our shifts will be unable to help us if we’re all sleep deprived when they are telling us to watch that first step.”

“I know Bilbo, but every time I close my eyes, I see that poor deer hanging from the tree.” Ori said and Bilbo sighed, trying to think of something that would calm the lad, when, before he even knew it, he was humming a song his mother used to sing when he was upset.

“Come out, moon...  
Come out, wishing star...  
Come out, come out...  
Wherever you are.

I’m out here in the dark,  
All alone and wide awake.  
Come and find me.

I’m empty and I’m cold,  
And my heart's about to break,  
Come and find me!

I need you to come here and find me,  
Cause without you, I’m totally lost.

I've hung a wish, on every star.  
It hasn't done much good so far...

I can only dream of you...  
Wherever you are.

I’ll hear you laugh,  
I’ll see you smile,  
I’ll be with you...  
Just for a while...

But when the morning comes,  
And the sun begins to rise,  
I will lose you.

Because it’s just a dream,  
When I open up my eyes,  
I will lose you.

I used to believe in forever,  
But forever is too good to be true.  
I've hung a wish, on every star.  
It hasn't done much good so far...

I don’t know what else to do...  
Except to try to dream of you...  
And wonder, if you are dreaming too...  
Wherever you are.

Wherever you are...” Most of the Dwarves drifted off by the end of Bilbo’s song, and Bilbo himself was able to drift off into slumber, with Thorin sleeping very close to him. Fili and Balin looked at each other and Balin said what was on Fili’s mind,

“I really don’t want to think about where we’d be without him.”

“I’m just glad Gandalf ordered him to stay with us.” The next morning, the Dwarves all felt a little better than they had in weeks, though the prospect that soon they would have to go into the rations they had been safe keeping since the hunt before Beorn’s, as well as their dwindling water supplies, made it hard to be too cheerful. Bofur then shouted

“River up ahead!” Many of the Dwarves ran to the water, hoping to refill their dwindling water pouches, only to be cut off a tiger, a lion, a black panther, and a wolf all snarling and roaring at them.

“In case you have all forgotten, Beorn told us not to drink the water from the river!” Bilbo growled and many moaned at the reminder.

“But Bilbo, we’re getting so low on water; I don’t know if we’ll make it!” Dori complained and many agreed.

“I know, I know! Ugh, there has to be something I can do to rectify this!” Bilbo growled before he started pacing in his irritation.

“What if you made it rain? You know, call up a big thunderstorm?” Nori suggested and many nodded, only for Bilbo to shake his head in irritation.

“No, no that won’t do any good; by the time the water gets down to us here below the trees, the rain water will have mixed with the water these trees are giving off as dew and such, leaving us in the exact same position as before.” Bilbo grumbled and many were saddened by that piece of information, but noticed when all of a sudden, Bilbo stopped pacing and looked at a tree.

“Balin, before Smaug came, do you recall how often it rained here?”

“Not very often; the Men of Dale depended heavily on the large lake that they settled on when Smaug attacked, and the Dwarves had a large underground spring where we got our water, why?” Bilbo then changed back, as did Thorin, Fili and Kili, and went into his bag.

“I read once that in areas where it doesn’t rain too often, the trees soak up the moisture to save it for the dry spells. Those who know where to find it, use spigots to get at that water for themselves.” As Bilbo spoke, he actually pulled out what looked like a wooden spigot.

“I carved this out of boredom, with any luck, and the use of a knife to get the whole thing going, we may be able to draw the water out of the trees themselves.”

“But I thought the water on the trees was poisoned like the river?” Kili asked and Bilbo responded with

“It is, but if I can heal the tree, the water inside of it will be purified as well.” Bilbo said as he commandeered Fili to make an appropriate hole for the spigot.

“If you can do that, why not heal the river?” Dwalin asked as Bilbo used a rock to gently pound the spigot in, though not all the way just yet.

“Because, my dear Dwalin, I refer to the analogy of putting off resetting your broken arm and only constantly cleaning it; I heal it from here, and more bad water will just come pouring down in a few minutes and undo my hard work. No, in order to heal the river completely I would need to find the head of the river and heal it from there, which is not our mission at the moment. If I were to heal it from anywhere but the source, I would use up far too much magic, and leave myself highly vulnerable. No, healing this tree, along with one other, will give us the water we need, as well as use very little magic in comparison to the river. Now, everyone be quiet please; I’ve only had to a couple times before so I want to make sure I do this right.” Bilbo then placed his hands on the tree, closed his eyes and started speaking in something akin to Elvish. They all watched as Bilbo’s hands glowed before that glow moved from his hands and went into to the tree, covering it in a powerful glow. Once the glow receded, they noticed the tree and its leaves seemed brighter than before and they watched as murky water flowed out of the spigot until it turned into clear, fresh water, which Kili immediately caught with his water skin.

“Right, now you lot gather as much water as you can from this tree, I’m going to repeat the process with another tree, that way hopefully we’ll have enough water to get us out of here.” Bilbo said as he went to repeat the process to a nearby tree. Once they had collected all the water they could carry, as well as drinking their fill, they turned to look at the river they had to cross.

“Well, Fili and I can just swim across and-” but before Kili could finish his statement, Bilbo shouted

“NO!” Everyone turned to look at him in shock at the vehement dismissal at the idea.

“What’s wrong Bilbo? Otters are natural swimmers whose noses close as they dive under the waters.” Balin asked and Bilbo shook his head and replied

“Remember what happened when I tried to use my owl shift? I had just taken off, when the forest made me land and shiver terribly until I changed back; I couldn’t move so much as a feather. Now imagine what would happen if the boys did the same thing in their otter forms? They get in, the forest attacks them, and they can’t move until they turn back, which may cause them to open their mouths and whatever is wrong with the water will affect them. I may not know what is wrong with the water but Beorn told me no less than half a dozen times not to drink the water from the rivers.”

“Bilbo, look at the trees! They’re changing back already!” Ori pointed out and many saw that he was right; the previously healthy and lush trees were again turning dark and eerie like the others.

“An example of what I was saying Dwalin; the trees have no choice but to take their nutrients from the ground which is poisoned and therefore the trees are quickly being poisoned. Now, for getting across; each of us has at least one shift that is a good jumper, so I say we jump.”

“What about Ori and Dwalin, neither of them have shifts that could jump so far.” Dori pointed out and Bilbo thought for a moment, until Thorin said

“Couldn’t Dwalin swing from these lower branches, and hold Ori?”

“That could work, alright everyone, let’s get jumping.” So, one by one, they all jumped and managed to land on the other side of the river. Finally, the last two were Thorin and Bilbo.

“Ok fearless leader, you go first, and I’ll follow you.”

“Don’t you think it would be better if you went first and I followed you?” Thorin asked and Bilbo shook his head

“Tigers are better jumpers than wolves with sharper eyesight; if it looks like you are about to fall, I can give Gloin a sign to catch you.” Thorin shook his head as he shifted, and Bilbo thought he heard him grumble

“Bloody impertinent hair-ball.”

“Get jumping Fido.” Thorin glared before backing up far enough, running, and then jumping. Bilbo admitted he felt a slight tendril of fear when Thorin’s rear landed in the water, but Gloin managed to wrap his trunk around Thorin’s middle and pull him up before the current got him. After seeing Thorin successfully get across to the other side, Bilbo changed to his tiger shift and repeated Thorin’s process, but when he got to the middle of the river, all of a sudden Bilbo stopped and with a struggle and a roar, he dropped right into the river.

“BILBO!” The Dwarves all shouted as Gloin moved as quickly as he could, dropped his trunk into the river, and tried to find Bilbo. It took him a few moments, but his trunk finally made contact with something. When he pulled his trunk up, he brought up a weasel instead of a tiger.

“He must have changed as soon as he hit the water.” Nori said and the others nodded as Gloin dropped Bilbo into Thorin’s arms. Thorin started gently shaking Bilbo, trying to get any residual water in him out.

“It’s strange; there doesn’t seem to be any trouble with him breathing, and yet he isn’t waking up.” Fili said and the others watched as Thorin kept saying his name and was shaking him, begging him to wake up, but no matter how hard he tried, the little Hobbit weasel refused to wake.

A/N: Ain’t I a little stinker? Before you pull out the machine guns, need I remind you that if I’m riddled with bullets, you won’t get the next chapter?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Song, for you non-Disney fans out there, is Wherever You Are from Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search For Christopher Robin. I thought it appropriate.


End file.
